Deleting old versions of packages

[Achim Gratz]

Christopher Faylor writes:
> I don't like the clunkiness of creating anti-files in the sftp directory
> to force deletions but I can't think of any other way to do this short
> of actually making it look like the entire release directory is in the
> user's sftp area.

What we've got is what I'd call a transactional procedure for
maintaining our packages.  The positive part is implemented: if the
transaction gets committed (!ready) then any files get transferred to
the release directory.

Removing files is difficult for two reasons: a) we don't easily know the
current state of the release directory and b) setup.hint may allow
multiple states depending on what is already in the release directory.

Keeping the deletion part a manual operation is possible, but probably
goes against your intentions and a !delete file is iffy.  So my proposal
would be that the current state of the release directory is mirrored
with (zero-sized?) files in the sftp area.  A maintainer could then just
delete any of those placeholders and the corresponding file would be
deleted from the release directory.  Crucially, the upload and the
deletion would not necessarily need to happen with the same transaction.


Regards,
Achim.
-- 
+<[Q+ Matrix-12 WAVE#46+305 Neuron microQkb Andromeda XTk Blofeld]>+

DIY Stuff:
http://Synth.Stromeko.net/DIY.html