Programmer types Help!

[teamhypoxia 0]

got a little problem here at work....

there are multiple files living on a server in our office in another city. I need to frequently copy those files onto either a local server or my hard drive.
the files are nested within seperate subfolders and need to be copied to identical seperate subfolders.
I am currently doing it by navigating via explorer and "drag and dropping" but this is cumbersome. I'm thinking I need a .bat file or something that I can simply execute to automate this silliness but I have no idea how to write script for a .bat file. can anyone help me out? perhaps with a sample .bat script that I can reverse engineer? or even another suggestion entirely?

thanks

[beowulf 1]

Use xcopy. With the appropriate settings it will do exactly what you want. Type in xcopy /? to get the help information.

example

xcopy /E /Z /Y c:\source\* d:\destination

This will copy all files and directories including empty directories into the destination. Not exactly what you want but you can modify it to do what you need.

[StreetScooby 5]

If you're using NT, you can "schedule" the xcopy command to run at regular intervals. I'm sure you can even do it with a Windows workstation, just not off the top of my head.

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[ifall 0]

Yeah, you can. YEARS ago I had one running on a 98 machine that I had pinging a router every hour 'cause the link would go down after a while if I didn't.

[teamhypoxia 0]

Quote

Use xcopy. With the appropriate settings it will do exactly what you want. Type in xcopy /? to get the help information.

example

xcopy /E /Z /Y c:\source\* d:\destination

This will copy all files and directories including empty directories into the destination. Not exactly what you want but you can modify it to do what you need.

is this something I can write into a .bat file with all the file paths so that I can simply execute the .bat to automate it?

[shropshire 0]

If you dont want to write something yourself... do a GOOGLE for File Replication software, which can do the file transfer stuff for you and schedule the task..

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[SudsyFist 0]

Scheduled XCOPY works for what it does, but it's not very robust in terms of logging, real-time sync, flexible scheduling, caching, etc.

Windows 2000 and 2003 have the kludgy File Replication Service (FRS), which requires Active Directory for use. Other COTS options range from lower-end products like Second Copy to Legato's line of enterprise replication software (Replistor, DiskXtender, etc.).

Depending on business need and budget, you may wish to look down that path, as well.

[StreetScooby 5]

Yes, you can put this in a bat file with hardcoded paths. Just beware that if someone is using the file while it's being copied, problems could come up (file's get locked by O/S, or the copies aren't actually in sync like you thought). Unless many people are using the files alot, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are using the files alot, maybe should look into putting the data in a relational database (MS SQL Server, etc.).

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[flyangel2 2]

Geek talk is so hot!

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[beowulf 1]

Like Streetscooby said you sure can put this in .bat file.

[teamhypoxia 0]

ok... almost have a working .bat

first problem was spaces in the names of the folders
fixed that using "_"

now my problem is "&" in the names of a couple of folders

not sure how to fix this one

any hints?

[beowulf 1]

it makes life easier if you avoid using too many special characters
is this how you are using the quotations?

example "c:\documents and settings\administrator"

[teamhypoxia 0]

not using the quotations in the file at all... just on here

here's one line of it:

xcopy /D /Z /Y K:\Memorial_North_Hospital\Constructs\Plumbing_&_Piping\Med_Gas\00MG.dwg C:\Documents_and_Settings\ericj.HPE\Desktop\Memorial_North_Hospital\Constructs\Plumbing_&_Piping\Med_Gas\00MG.dwg

& can't be helped at this point

[StreetScooby 5]

Quote

it makes life easier if you avoid using too many special characters

So true. Also, if you're copying from a windows machine to unix machine you're filenames become case sensitive. Just a potential gotcha, FYI.

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[StreetScooby 5]

What's the error message?

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[beowulf 1]

oh use the quotations to deal with the special characters. The quotations will allow you to copy files and directories with spaces.
For some reason I looked at "_" and saw quotations only. It's been a long day.


example

xcopy /D /Z /Y "K:\Memorial_North_Hospital\Constructs\Plumbing_&_Piping\Med_Gas\00MG.dwg" "C:\Documents_and_Settings\ericj.HPE\Desktop\Memorial_North_Hospital\Constructs\Plumbing_&_Piping\Med_Gas\00MG.dwg"

[teamhypoxia 0]

Beautiful!
got it
done
now if we could just get someone with a brain to replace our outsourced it department and get them to fix our network....

oh and Mary.. I'm not really much of a computer geek, but I play one at work

[flyangel2 2]

Quote

I'm not really much of a computer geek, but I play one at work

I thought you were a plumber. I wanted to see your butt crack

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey