Automatic backup of turn files

[PDF]

Lolly,
Sure I did test it and it works fine under XP !
There's even a nice log file to knwo what happened .

About my request to change the path I've found where the script should be changed, in the Backup variable definition, but ain't sure about how to type those "\" or "/" according to this language conventions and with possible OSes incompatibilities... so I let you do it !

As for pbem there are in fact two different needs :
A simple player has to send its 2h file but doesn't "host" as such, and there's no means to detect if he wants to really end the turn and send it or if he would like to send it later... Plus there's only 1 simple mail with the .2h file to send to the hosting player. Maybe a small tool can help, but not much,as anyway the player has to make an action.
I was rather thinking of something for the hoster, who has to send all .trn files (+ ftherland , some don't but it makes a backup indeed !) to all of the players.
Some even make separate emails for each player with each turn file attached !
Here a tool would be great, and it could be easily automated to follow the hosting.
Make it in Python, Ruby, or whatever snake species or gem type you want, it'll be great anyway !

And what did reply your husband for the kiss btw ? ..

[Lollipop]

Incredible, but true. I did write some documentation, completely voluntary, without someone threatening me with a shotgun.

Here's the readme of the new version:
Code:

---

*Synopsis*



	A python script to auto-backup your dom3 games



*Requirements*

	python 2.4 or better. Get it from http://www.python.org/download/. If you have Civ 4,you have it

	(I hope 



	zlib. Get it from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/zlib.htm. Linux has it (usually)



*Installation*



	- extract dom3backup.py to your dominions3 directory



	- Linux:

		create a shell script like:

		#!/bin/bash

		./dom3 --scoredump --preexec './dom3backup.py -q' &



		chmod +x <your name goes here> business as usual



	-Windows:

		-create a link of your dom3.exe (right drag to a location of your choice and select 		'create link here')



		-right click on your link, select 'properties' and find the line containing 'dom3.exe'



		-add ' --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q"'

		the ' are only there to show blanks, don't enter. The " however are required.



		-enter further arguments. Explained below



	-Mac:

		sorry, no idea



*Usage*

	dom3backup always backups the game, you've last played. If you want to backup another game, use the

	-g option.

	dom3backup uses a simple substitution. Whenever you specify a directory, #name is replaced with the

	current game name (either last game played or specified with -g), #turn is replaced with the

	current turn-number.

	Relative paths are relative to <dom3>/savedgames



  -a ARCHIVE, --archive=ARCHIVE

                        create archive <name> now. Usually used from the commandline

  -b BACKUPDIR, --backupdir=BACKUPDIR

                        create backup in backupdir. Default:

                        <dom3>/savedgames/#name.backup.

		Example:

			last game you played was 'ermor1'

			no arguments:

				backup all your files to <dom3>/savedgames/ermor1.backup/

			-b ./#name/backup

				backup all your files to <dom3>/savedgames/ermor1/backup/

			-b c:/d3archive/#name

				backup all your files to c:/d3archive/ermor1/

			-b ../saved/#name.#turn

				all your files to '<dom3>/saved/ermor.1',then <dom3>/saved/ermor.2' etc.

			-b ../saved/#name/#turn

				all your files to '<dom3>/saved/ermor/1',then <dom3>/saved/ermor/2' etc.

  -d ARCHDIR, --archdir=ARCHDIR

                        create Zipfiles in archdir. archdir must exists.

                        Default: <dom3>/archivedgames. Absolute or relative paths as the -b option

  -f FREQ, --freq=FREQ  create a Zipfile every <n> turn(s). Default: 0 (no

                        zipfile)

  -g GAME, --game=GAME  backup game <name>. Otherwise backup latest game

  -m MAXFILES, --maxfiles=MAXFILES

                        keep max. <n> Zipfiles. Delete oldest. Default: 0

                        (keep all)

  -q, --quiet           output messages are written to <dom3>/dom3backup.log

  -r, --restore         restore files form backup-dir. Use only from the command line

  -t TURN, --turn=TURN  assume turn <n>. Only useful with -r. Use from

                        commandline only

  --nocopy              don't copy files to backup-dir. Default: False



*Putting it all together*

	Assuming windows...

	Ex.1) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q"

		once you hit 'e', your files are copied to <Dom3 path>\savedgames\<gamename>.backup

	Ex.2) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q -f 1"

		same as above, but every turn a zip file is created in <Dom3 path>/archivedgames

		The zip-file is named <game-name>-Turn<turnnumber>.zip

	Ex.3) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q -f 4"

		same as above, but zip files are only created on Turn1, Turn 5, Turn9 etc.

	Ex.4) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q -f 4 -m 2"

		same as above, but only 2 zip-files are kept at any time. So if <name>-Turn9.zip is created, 			<name>-Turn1.zip is deleted

	Ex.5) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q -b ../saved/#name"

		your files are copied to '<dom3>/saved/<gamename>. Of course you're free to also create

		zip files, see above

	Ex.6) dom3.exe --scoredump --preexec "<Dom3 path>\dom3backup.py -q -b ../saved/#name/#turn"

		copied to <dom3>/saved/<gamename>/1,<dom3>/saved/<gamename>/2 etc



	Restoring backups:

		If you don't used -b, the *last* turn from <Dom3 path>\savedgames\<gamename>.backup is

		restored.

		Same as above, if you used -b *and* no #turn substitution

		If you used #turn substitution, you *must* use the -t argument

		

		So start a shell and:

			Ex.1)  python dom3backup.py -r  

				= restore last turn

			Ex.5) python dom3backup.py -r -b ../saved/#name

				same as above

			Ex.6) now you must pass a turn number

				python dom3backup.py -r -b ../saved/#name/#turn --turn 1

				start from scratch

*Caveats*

	Windows: you must use -q

	Windows: use / in pathnames, not \

	All: if you mess around with the savedgames directory, the auto-detection might no longer work.

		Files containing a '.' and newlords are ignored, but if you copy the 'MyFavoritePorns' folder

		to savedgames, your pbem-partner might be up for a surprise 



	GPL applies......



Comments to ZarahNeander at t-online  dot de



04/11/06 Pia Kraft

---

[Lollipop]

PDF said:
Lolly,
Sure I did test it and it works fine under XP !
There's even a nice log file to knwo what happened .

Thanks much, good to know

About my request to change the path I've found where the script should be changed, in the Backup variable definition, but ain't sure about how to type those "\" or "/" according to this language conventions

Done. See the new attachment. The substitute mechanism is quite flexible and should satisfy even you

Regarding / and \. Internally I only used /, so it seems, that python is smart enough to convert / to \ under XP. It *might* even necessary to use / in arguments passed to the script.

I was rather thinking of something for the hoster, who has to send all .trn files (+ ftherland , some don't but it makes a backup indeed !) to all of the players.
Some even make separate emails for each player with each turn file attached !
Here a tool would be great, and it could be easily automated to follow the hosting.

I see. Thanks for elaborating. Shouldn't be too hard. The only problem, while I don't run unit tests and such, I like to test my software at least rudimentary, which means, I have to host a pbem game. And a pbem with only a host is somewhat pointless. And I don't want to incur the eternal wrath of players by using a real pbem as my testbed. So I'm looking for some kind of sacrificial lamb...

And what did reply your husband for the kiss btw ? ..

Let me put it this way: I won't give away my age, suffice to say, I'm seasoned, quite seasoned

[PDF]

Hi again Lolly,
Well, the new version is even better, thanks !
I just have have a problem, the -d (archive dir) option doesn't work for me, whatever I specify all archive zips end up in savedgames directly !

Could I just ask (again) for a direct "restore" command to which one would just have to say (type rather)
"restore <game> <turn>" ?

I'm volunteer to test a pbem tool with you also

And I kiss you whatever your age may be, I'm not that young either !

[Lollipop]

Hi PDF,

The -d thingie is weird, it works for me. The zip file is created in savedgames and then moved to <archdir>, so it's safe to say, that the 'move' command failed.

- the archdir *must* exist. This is an anachronism from the early development, and it also means, that the #turn substitution doesn't work (except you're busy creating directorys). I'll fix that soon.

- It might be a /\ problem. Unfortunately I don't have XP at home.

You might fire up a shell and start dom3backup manually. Most likely it throws an exception & most likely 'path not found' (shame on me, I didn't catch exceptions)

With regard to a 'restore' command, I image that dom3backup on XP with it's stone age shell is really hard to use. However the public interest isn't exactly overwhelming. I admit that the thing is hard to setup (only partly my fault) and that writing user documentation isn't my strongest side. But atm I'm not sure if I continue public development. Programming is fun for me, writing documentation not.

I will however try my hands on the pbem tool, if only cause I'm curious how python handles mime (which seems quite reasonable, another chance lost to bash python on #python-lang ). So thanks for volunteering.

Pia

[PDF]

Hi again !
I'd a look at the code, maybe there's a problem with the way default archdir is defined as ../archivedgames ... but I can't get any path to work with archdir ! OTOH the backup path system works perfectly.
Additionaly I can't see the messages because the window closes too fast, and not everything is traced in the log...

I've tried to run the script in debug mode with IDLE to see the variables but I don't know how to "trace variable" in the debugger.

Well I think I'll don't bother anymore and let my archives accumulate in savedgames folder !

[Lollipop]

send you a PM, PDF

[lch]

Nice python scripts, thanks.

I have been using some crude bash scripting myself, you could drop this in your ~/.bashrc if you dare:

Code:

---

function archive {

  if test $# -lt 1; then return; fi

  tar czvf $(basename $1)-$(date +%s).tgz $@

}



function archive-title {

  if test $# -lt 2; then return; fi

  argv=($@)

  tar czvf $(date +%s)-$1.tgz ${argv[@]:1}

}

---

The first "archive" command takes as parameter the path to your game in your savegame directory (you could chmod into the savegame directory first to save typing) and adds a timestamp to the archive, the second "archive-title" command expects some title as first parameter for the savegame and prefixes it with a timestamp (in case you want to have a better view over what the savegame is about, like "SpammedMindHunt").

Yes, that code is ugly and I never went around to improve it, so you better use the python script instead.

[Gandalf Parker]

I set every game to run a --preexec and a --postexec which usually start out as blanks. But that way if the game gets interesting I can easily add commands to those. Such as having the pre exec do a zip of the game before each hosting.

Thats one of the many MANY reasons that I pushed to get those added to the command line. It handles so many things