Re: [rdiff-backup-users] Unclear part in the --remove-older-then section of man rdiff-backup

[Chris Wilson]

Hi Cybertinus,

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009, Cybertinus wrote:

> I'm reading the manual page of rdiff-backup and I don't understand the 
> following part of the manual. It is the last paragraph of the option 
> --remove-older-then:
>
> "Note that snapshots of deleted files are covered by this operation. 
> Thus if you deleted a file two weeks ago, backed up immediately 
> afterwards, and then ran rdiff-backup with --remove-older-than 10D 
> today, no trace of that file would remain.  Finally, file selection 
> options such as --include and --exclude don't affect 
> --remove-older-than."
>
> Does this mean that when I delete a file by accident but I've run a
> rdiff-backup --remove-older-than in the mean time I can't get it back
> from my backup? Not even from a snapshot that was created before I
> deleted that file (but to new to be deleted by --remove-older-then)?

My reading of your quotation from the manual describes the behaviour that 
you and I both expect, and not the bad behaviour that you describe above.

The sentence in question is:

"If you deleted a file two weeks ago, backed up immediately afterwards, 
and then ran rdiff-backup with --remove-older-than 10D today, no trace of 
that file would remain."

I think this sentence counts as explanatory rather than as a definition of 
behaviour, so arguably it is superfluous. It seems clear enough to me, but 
if it's confusing to anyone then I think it ought to be rewritten to 
improve it. Perhaps this version would be easier to understand:

"The --remove-older-than option will delete all snapshots older than the 
specified date, including all changes and deleted files contained in them. 
If a file was deleted or corrupted before one of those snapshots was made, 
it will no longer be recoverable."

Does that help you? Does anyone else think it is an improvement, or wish 
to suggest a better version?

Cheers, Chris.
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