Re: Feature request for cp

[Dragan Simic]

On 2023-07-11 16:29, Tommy Bollman wrote:
> Hello guys.
>
> Feature request.
>
> I have made a little command line cp utility *nrcp*, that basically 
> takes
> a file name as an argument and appends an ascending number at the end 
> of it.
>
> The intention is to be able to keep backups for back tracking during
> experimenting with files.

Wouldn't it be better to simply use some of the commonly available 
version
control systems for that purpose?  See, having a single file versioned 
through
IDs in its filename is admittedly rather neat, but the things quickly 
become
rather complicated when it gets to directories with multiple files, etc.

The "cp" utility would have to be able to deal with all that, which 
would
quickly get out of hand and turn it into yet another version control 
system.

> I honed the idea further, and I added a **-k** switch, that preserves 
> the
> file mode, so that I can just "nrcp -k shellscript"  which returns a
> shellscript.0 that is still executable, but I can edit it at my hearts
> contents, without ruining the real one.
>
> While at that feature, I figured I could also embed the number, which 
> is
> much more practical if I work on a c-file, or any other file-type where 
> the
> extension matters. And I implemented that in the -k switch, so it both
> preserves file mode, and embeds the number inside any extension.
>
> Honestly, I'd rather see the utility in the **moreutils** packaged, but 
> it
> is without maintainer at the moment. And I am being nagged for not 
> trying
> to get you to implement this into core-utils, as it IS a 
> SUPER-PRACTICAL
> feature. :)
>
> I see that cp doesn't do anything with the **-k** nor **-K** switches, 
> so I
> humbly propose those for invoking the behavior in cp.
>
> The whole discussion has been in this reddit thread:
>
> <
> https://www.reddit.com/r/commandline/comments/14vptm6/a_little_tool_that_creates_a_numbered_copy_of_a/
> >
>
> The code for the utility resides in this gist:
> <https://gist.github.com/McUsr/74e277ff8bd4707f151cf73eae8e20c4>
>
> I hope to hear from you, whether the message be positive or negative!
>
> And I am happy for GNU existing!
>
> Keep up the good work and have a wonderful rest of the summer!
>
> Sincerely
>
> Tommy Bollman/McUsr.