Re: lynx-dev LYNX: do the "override?" msg FIRST (as well as at end?)

[David Combs]

On Fri, Aug 04, 2000 at 05:38:20PM -0700, Doug Kaufman wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, David Combs wrote:
> 
> > Currently, it isn't until AFTER you have downloaded
> > some maybe huge (emacs is 50mb!) file that you find
> > out that you ALREADY have an identically-named file on
> > the disk.
> > ... 
> > Yes, many things use simple names, like "index", but
> > many more (?) have full names, like foo-3.8.2.tar.gz,
> > and you'd like (maybe) to know BEFORE downloading if
> > perhaps you ALREADY have it.
> > ... 
> > Anyone think that some such facility would be useful?
> 
> I don't think that I understand what problem you are talking about,
> let alone your proposed solution. Are you talking about name conflicts
> or about downloading the same file more than once? I would think that
> either would be handled by either suspending lynx (with CTRL-Z),
> if supported, or shelling to the command line (with "!") and using
> the usual file utilities to see what you already have. I do this
> frequently in both unix and DOS. If you download a file and find that
> another file with the same name already exists, the temp file is still
> there, so you can just cancel the saving to disk with CTRL-G, then
> save to another name, or just say no to the request to overwrite, then
> pick another name for the saved file. Perhaps you could try to explain
> again exactly what causes you problems.
>                             Doug

Yes, no problem when you WANT the file you just downloaded.

It's when you have mistakenly downloaded the same file twice,
just because you forgot what you had just done (eg phone call
or other interruption of your concentration).

And, no big deal if it took only a few seconds to download
the thing, as it does for me on my netcom soon-to-be-gone
shell-account (since downloading via lynx is to THEIR computer,
not mine).

But not so fast for ppp users on 56kb modem, and not so 
fast for even shell acct when the file is BIG, HUGE.

---

That's all I'm talking about -- when you make a MISTAKE,
and download a file you already downloaded (likely just
a few minutes (or hours, if called away to meeting, etc)
ago.)

Simply about the waste of downloading-time.  Had you been
informed BEFORE downloading actually started that you
already had that file, you could have aborted it, and
saved that (maybe precious, maybe long) time.

That's all.   I sent the suggestion only because I
had just made that very mistake, and said to myself,
"wouldn't it be nice if lynx had TOLD me that I
was about to download something I already had?"

Also, it could NOT notify you about any file named 
"index".

David


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