Application to eliminate doubles in files and rename changed files with date?
Looking for a solution to a specific problem:
I have bought an external usb hard drive on which I back up my three computers every once in a while. Space will quickly be used up. I can't find that little bit of research that I need yesterday. Here is what I would like to find: An application that eliminates doubles in identical files and renames files that have changed by appending the last saved date yyyymmdd to the file name. Does such an application already exist? |
How do you back up your data?
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For identical files I would use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fdupes or those listed on there. Then I would use a script for the rest. |
On looking around, I find that the cp command already does a lot of what I need. I just have to tell it what to replace.
Also, I really have to think hard about what I really want to do. What to replace, what to rename, on what criteria. Before I erase something important by mistake. Still working on it. ... Files that never change, like photos, songs, etc, I want the copies eliminated. Text files that have changed, I want them renamed with the date added at the end. ... What I want is more of a library in the old sense, where I can go search my sources and old texts at will than a backup per se. Backups have the disadvantage that you have to search in each date a file lost among others. I would like to go into a directory and directly to a specific file at a certain date. Instead of going to date, then file, I would go to file, then date. Much better for me. |
I do historical research. I have accumulated thousands of pictures, scans, images from the web, pdf and ebook documents, text files that I have modified. But also I have songs for when I work, bash scripts to make my work easier, emails from my friends, etc. etc. It is all very complex and hard to find when I need it. So ... I need a reservoir, a library on an external hard drive where I can keep all this safe while preserving space on the laptop where I keep the actual working papers, dictionnaries, references, etc.
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My problem is common to a lot of people: students, programmers, 3d modelers, poets, etc.
Things that change, like text files. Things that remain the same, like pictures. A big pool of mess in which to search for what you need. The need is there, but where is the programming genius to fill it? |
Allright, so I can check the mtime of a file with:
Quote:
Surely someone must already have done that? |
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