#jtransfer

jtransfer is a Java command line utility, that can list directories and transfer files via regular expressions. It supports resuming partial transferred files, preserving file attributes and permissions as well as exporting and importing lists.

jtransfer started as a learning project and it still is, so much of the code could be vastly improved and may contain bugs, but for now it already is a useful tool that works well in most cases.

Requirements

jtransfer uses Java lambda expressions and nio features to provide acceptable performance and therefore it requires

Java 8

Usage

jtransfer supports Windows, OSX and Linux, although the usage instructions might be different for each operating system.

Basic Usage

jtransfer is available as wrapper script, which includes shell instructions as well as the jar file in a binary or a valid windows batch wrapper called jtransfer.bat:

jtransfer [options] source [destination]

If you do not use the binary wrapper nor batch script, you can always use:

java -jar jtransfer.jar [options] source [destination]

Search

The destination pattern is optional, as well as the programm options. If you do not specify a destination pattern, jtransfer recursively lists all matching files in all subdirectories, so it can also be used as a search tool.

Copy, Rename, Resume

jtransfer copies recursively and resumes partially transferred files by default. If you would like to move or rename files instead, use the ---move option

Examples

Before you use jtransfer, you should know, that jtransfer DOES NOT expand * like other command line tools. So

# DOES NOT WORK as you might expect!
jtransfer '/tmp/*.jpg' 

DOES NOT WORK as you might expect! It usually is a good idea, to use the --dry-run option, to see, what jtransfer is going to do with your files.

Recursive listing of /tmp directory and its matchings using a simple regular expression:

jtransfer '/tmp/(.*)\.jpg'

Copy recursive using a simple regex replace:

jtransfer '/tmp/(.*)\.jpeg' '/tmp/$1\.jpg'

Move using regex replace

jtransfer '/tmp/(.*)\.jpeg' '/tmp/$1\.jpg' --move

Simulate move with relative source and destination path

jtransfer 'relative/path/(.*)\.jpeg' 'relative/target/path/$1\.jpg' --dry-run

Options

Following options are available:

    --archive
      preserves all file attributes, if possible
      Default: false
    --debug
      show debug info
      Default: false
    --dry-run
      perform a dry run without transferring
      Default: false
    --export-to
      export source listing to file, one line per source
    --files-from
      import source listing from file, one line per source
    --follow-symlinks
      regard contents of symlinked folders
      Default: false
    --force-overwrite
      force overwrite of existing files that diff from source
      Default: false
    --group
      preserve group
      Default: false
    --max-age
      maximum age (e.g. -2 days, -8 weeks, 2015-10-10, etc.)
    --max-items
      Maximum number of matching items
      Default: 0
    --min-age
      minimum age (e.g. -2 days, -8 weeks, 2015-10-10, etc.)
    --move
      move instead of copy
      Default: false
    --owner
      preserve owner (super-user only)
      Default: false
    --perms
      preserves permissions
      Default: false
    --quiet
      do not show any output
      Default: false
    --times
      preserves times
      Default: false

OS Specific Notes

Linux / Unix / MacOS

Use single quotes ('), not double quotes (") to enclose patterns, so that shell variables like $1 are not resolved

Example:

jtransfer '/tmp/(.*)\.jpeg' '/tmp/$1\.jpg' --move

Windows

Use double quotes (") to enclose patterns and slashes as directory separator, because on Windows single quotes are no valid argument delimiters.

Although single quotes and backslashes should work in many cases (jtransfer provides a workaround), they might lead to unexpected behaviour and should be avoided on windows.

Example:

jtransfer "C:/Users/johndoe/pictures/(.*)\.jpeg" "C:/Users/johndoe/jpegs/$1\.jpg" --move

jtransfer development

jtransfer is developed in Java 8, so JDK 8 must be installed in order to create builds. Gradle is used as build tool, so use the following instructions to build all jtransfer targets:

git clone https://github.com/sandreas/jtransfer.git


cd jtransfer


./gradlew release

If the build is successful, the directory builds/release/<version>/ should contain releases for all operating systems:

Linux / Unix / MacOS

jtransfer comes with a binary shell wrapper, that contains shell script AND jar in one file.

build/release//jtransfer-linux_unix_macos.zip

To use it, just unzip and use chmod +x to make it executable.

Windows

jtransfer comes with a windows batch wrapper jtransfer.bat that works together with libs/jtransfer.jar

build/release//jtransfer-win.zip

To use it, just unzip and add the target directory your %Path% environment variable.

OS Independent

jar file only, can be run with java -jar jtransfer.jar

build/libs/jtransfer-jar_only.zip

IDE recommendation

jtransfer is developed with JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA, so this is the recommended IDE