From: Zooko O'Whielacronx Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:34:59 +0000 (-0700) Subject: docs: CLI.txt: rewrite the way that "root directories" (now called "starting director... X-Git-Tag: allmydata-tahoe-1.1.0~10 X-Git-Url: https://git.rkrishnan.org/readonly?a=commitdiff_plain;h=9417a347406b9dd365951cbb38ac22150efe4461;p=tahoe-lafs%2Ftahoe-lafs.git docs: CLI.txt: rewrite the way that "root directories" (now called "starting directories") and aliases are introduced --- diff --git a/docs/CLI.txt b/docs/CLI.txt index fdc52d36..e0719851 100644 --- a/docs/CLI.txt +++ b/docs/CLI.txt @@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ local one. These commands also use a table of "aliases" to figure out which directory they ought to use a starting point. This is explained in more detail below. -=== Root Directories === +=== Starting Directories === As described in architecture.txt, the Tahoe distributed filesystem consists of a collection of directories and files, each of which has a "read-cap" or a @@ -100,20 +100,26 @@ a name to a child file or directory, and this table is turned into a string and stored in a mutable file. The whole set of directory and file "nodes" are connected together into a directed graph. -To treat this collection of dirnodes as a regular filesystem, you just need -to choose a starting point: some specific directory that you refer to as your -"root directory". We then refer to everything that can be reached from this -starting point as your "personal filesystem". The "ls" command would list the -contents of this root directory, the "ls dir1" command would look inside the -root for a child named "dir1" and list its contents, "ls dir1/subdir2" would -look two levels deep, etc. Note that there is no real global "root" -directory, but instead each user's personal filesystem has a root that they -use as a starting point for all their operations. - -In fact, each tahoe node remembers a list of starting points, named -"aliases", in a file named ~/.tahoe/private/aliases . These aliases are short -strings that stand in for a directory read- or write- cap. The default -starting point uses an alias named "tahoe:". +To use this collection of files and directories, you need to choose a +starting point: some specific directory that we will refer to as a +"starting directory". For a given starting directory, the "ls +[STARTING_DIR]:" command would list the contents of this directory, +the "ls [STARTING_DIR]:dir1" command would look inside this directory +for a child named "dir1" and list its contents, "ls +[STARTING_DIR]:dir1/subdir2" would look two levels deep, etc. + +Note that there is no real global "root" directory, but instead each +starting directory provides a different, possibly overlapping +perspective on the graph of files and directories. + +Each tahoe node remembers a list of starting points, named "aliases", +in a file named ~/.tahoe/private/aliases . These aliases are short +strings that stand in for a directory read- or write- cap. If you use +the command line "ls" without any "[STARTING_DIR]:" argument, then it +will use the default alias, which is "tahoe", therefore "tahoe ls" has +the same effect as "tahoe ls tahoe:". The same goes for the other +commands which can reasonably use a default alias: get, put, mkdir, +mv, and rm. For backwards compatibility with Tahoe-1.0, if the "tahoe": alias is not found in ~/.tahoe/private/aliases, the CLI will use the contents of @@ -122,20 +128,20 @@ point, and stored it in this root_dir.cap file, so Tahoe-1.1 will use it if necessary. However, once you've set a "tahoe:" alias with "tahoe set-alias", that will override anything in the old root_dir.cap file. -The Tahoe CLI commands use the same filename syntax as scp and rsync: an -optional "alias:" prefix, followed by the pathname or filename. Many commands -have arguments which supply a default tahoe: alias if you don't provide one -yourself, but it is always safe to supply the alias. Some commands (like -"tahoe cp") use the lack of an alias to mean that you want to refer to a -local file, instead of something from the tahoe virtual filesystem. [TODO] -Another way to indicate this is to start the pathname with a dot, slash, or -tilde. - -When you're dealing with your own personal filesystem, the "tahoe:" alias is -all you need. But when you want to refer to something that isn't yet attached -to your virtual drive, you need to refer to it by its URI. The way to do that -is to add an alias to it, with the "tahoe add-alias" command. Once you've -added an alias, you can use that alias as a prefix to the other commands. +The Tahoe CLI commands use the same filename syntax as scp and rsync +-- an optional "alias:" prefix, followed by the pathname or filename. +Some commands (like "tahoe cp") use the lack of an alias to mean that +you want to refer to a local file, instead of something from the tahoe +virtual filesystem. [TODO] Another way to indicate this is to start +the pathname with a dot, slash, or tilde. + +When you're dealing a single starting directory, the "tahoe:" alias is +all you need. But when you want to refer to something that isn't yet +attached to the graph rooted at that starting directory, you need to +refer to it by its capability. The way to do that is either to use its +capability directory as an argument on the command line, or to add an +alias to it, with the "tahoe add-alias" command. Once you've added an +alias, you can use that alias as an argument to commands. The best way to get started with Tahoe is to create a node, start it, then use the following command to create a new directory and set it as your @@ -168,10 +174,14 @@ tahoe mkdir This creates a new empty unlinked directory, and prints its write-cap to stdout. The new directory is not attached to anything else. -tahoe add-alias work DIRCAP +tahoe add-alias fun DIRCAP - This create an alias "work:" and configures it to use the given directory - cap. Once this is done, "tahoe ls work:" will list the contents of this + An example would be: + +tahoe add-alias fun URI:DIR2:ovjy4yhylqlfoqg2vcze36dhde:4d4f47qko2xm5g7osgo2yyidi5m4muyo2vjjy53q4vjju2u55mfa + + This create an alias "fun:" and configures it to use the given directory + cap. Once this is done, "tahoe ls fun:" will list the contents of this directory. Use "tahoe add-alias tahoe DIRCAP" to set the contents of the default "tahoe:" alias. @@ -226,10 +236,10 @@ tahoe cp tahoe:uploaded.txt ~/downloaded.txt This downloads the named file from your tahoe root, and puts the result on your local filesystem. -tahoe cp tahoe:uploaded.txt work:stuff.txt +tahoe cp tahoe:uploaded.txt fun:stuff.txt This copies a file from your tahoe root to a different virtual directory, - set up earlier with "tahoe add-alias work DIRCAP". + set up earlier with "tahoe add-alias fun DIRCAP". tahoe rm uploaded.txt tahoe rm tahoe:uploaded.txt @@ -241,12 +251,12 @@ tahoe mv tahoe:uploaded.txt tahoe:renamed.txt These rename a file within your tahoe root directory. -tahoe mv uploaded.txt work: -tahoe mv tahoe:uploaded.txt work: -tahoe mv tahoe:uploaded.txt work:uploaded.txt +tahoe mv uploaded.txt fun: +tahoe mv tahoe:uploaded.txt fun: +tahoe mv tahoe:uploaded.txt fun:uploaded.txt These move a file from your tahoe root directory to the virtual directory - set up earlier with "tahoe add-alias work DIRCAP" + set up earlier with "tahoe add-alias fun DIRCAP"