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From: king@KESTREL.ARPA (Dick King)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: concerning Gnu Emacs backup files
Message-ID: <8701051856.AA21042@kestrel.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 5-Jan-87 13:56:40 EST
Article-I.D.: kestrel.8701051856.AA21042
Posted: Mon Jan  5 13:56:40 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 5-Jan-87 22:02:14 EST
Sender: daemon@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU
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   Date: Sun, 04 Jan 87 09:50:05 EST
   From: Ed Ramsey 

   I would like to create a directory /usr/ramsey/.gnubackup and have
   gnu emacs store all tilde and #*# files there.

   It is becomming very tiresome to have to delete all of the tilde and
   pound files everytime I leave a source directory.

   In an environment I once worked in, you could specify a  backup directory
   that the editor would use to store all backups.  This would be a nice idea 
   for gnu emacs.

   I realize that If you edit several different Makefiles that only the last
   one would be backed up, but generally that is all the longevity that is of
   interest (at least for me), especially if a shop uses RCS or SCCS and isn't
   trying to use the backups as a revision information tool.

   I read the manual and saw no easy hooks for doing this.  Is this do-able
   in a reasonably straightforward fashion?  Has someone solved this problem
   in a different way? (perhaps not a problem, but an irritation).

   -Ed


   From: franz!ficl!jkf@ucbarpa.berkeley.edu (John Foderaro)
   Date: Sun, 04 Jan 87 11:28:08 PST

    As an alternative to putting backup files in a ~/.gnubackup
   directory, I'd like to suggest that you try these two ideas:
    1. make the backup filenames begin with '.#' and the checkpoint
       filenames begin with '.##'.   This makes these files invisible
       unless you use 'ls -a' and thus they aren't as bothersome to keep
       around.

    2. add a line to /usr/lib/crontab (or else use 'at' if you aren't a 
       superuser) which daily checks for out of date backup and
       checkpoint files and removes them.  The crontab entry
       I use looks like this:
			   this is the clause that looks for gnumacs backups
							       |
							       v
   40 4 * * * find / '(' -name '#*' -o -name '*.CKP' -o -name '.#*' ')' -a -atime +3 -a -exec rm -f {} ';'



   -john foderaro



(setq delete-auto-save-files t) should clean your #*# files.  If it
doesn't, report a bug.

The *.~*~ files are serious business, and should not be deleted as a
matter of routine.  I have used backup files as much as a year later.
If a particular file is not serious business, you can set
buffer-backed-up to t for that file['s buffer] in its local variables.
(-: we have a file-precious flag -- perhaps we need a file-worthless
flag :-) You can also reduce the number of *.~*~ files [and make them
just *~ files] by setting version-control to never.  [I actually
recommend a value of nil, if you really resent multiple backups,
because this will cause files that already have numeric backups to
continue to have them, allowing you a file-by-file choice.]



I for one would be VERY UPSET if i worked at a site where the
superuser made such a serious decision for me as "you can't count on
backups being around for more than three days".  I would probably
change the format of my backups to avoid the automatic deletion,
although i would tolerate [and even recommend, perhaps] automatic
compression. 

-dick