I have searched the forum and attempted to read large parts of the rather cryptic DOpus manual, but still can't figure out how to do this.
As part of my daily backup routine, I want to zip a directory of files. The only zip processor I have is Dopus. I have a script that handles my backup steps (actually it is a "program" written in VBasic using the FileSystemObject).
To make this work I need to connstruct a windows command line using dopusrt.exe that will start DOpus and zip up a directory. I can not figure out how to do this in spite of numerous attempts (even did some testing guesses with a DOpus CLI wondow).
P.S. This may come down to how one puts multiple DOpus commands (e.g., "Copy zip") that need to be run in sequence on a single windows Run command line using dopusrt.exe.
This may not be a good approach because dopusrt starts commands but doesn't wait for them to complete so the rest of your script will continue while the zip file is still being created.
What else does the script do? Could all of the script be made into an Opus function which could then be run from a script (which does nothing else)?
FWIW one of my command line backup schemes first zips an entire directory, and then copies it to an external drive. For the command line zipping I use the free infozip utility available at:
Actually, this won't be a problem for me. I can easily wait x seconds in the script, or even check the window title of DOpus assuming it changes as something completes.
No, it is a long story: I must do a variety of things that involve calling certain programs and comparing various data values etc. This is a business and there are business needs that must be met.
P.S. One thing that would really help me is if I knew how to issue multiple commands using dopusrt.exe. I have been able to use dopusrt.exe to issue a single command, but I can't figure out how to list several commands (using semicolons or whatever the syntax is) on the dopusrt.exe windows command line. Perhaps dopusrt.exe can only accept one command with the /CMD parameter -- that would explain my non-success. I've noticed that DOpus itself seems to offer some sort of macro functionality. Is that the answer? Namely, make the multiple commands a DOpus macro and then run that macro as a single argument on the dopusrt.exe line?
[quote]As part of my daily backup routine, I want to zip a directory of files. The only zip processor I have is Dopus. I have a script that handles my backup steps (actually it is a "program" written in VBasic using the FileSystemObject).
To make this work I need to connstruct a windows command line using dopusrt.exe that will start DOpus and zip up a directory. [/quote]
OK, you do not need to start DOpus to use dopusrt.exe /cmd.
I'm not certain you really intended to say that you wanted the script to start Dopus before using dopusrt.exe /cmd,
but so that we're clear on this, it isn't necessary to do so.
I can't help with Visual Basic, but I can confirm what Nudel said.
Nudel:[quote]This may not be a good approach because dopusrt starts commands but doesn't wait for them to complete so the rest of your script will continue while the zip file is still being created.[/quote]
Yes, it's very often good to assume that dopusrt.exe will exit and return before the action is actually completed.
In scripts, one needs to use dopusrt.exe as a last step or when it doesn't matter that it isn't the last step.
It's more than annoying at first.
Eventually, one discovers that DOpus is worth it regardless.
I think your problem can be solved.
However, it may take a little ingenuity and restructuring.
I don't think at this point that you're going to need to do any kind of waiting.
Can you tell us anything more specific about the process you need to accomplish ?
Does the zip file you are creating contain other zip files that you also creating in the same script ?
Or is it just a matter of adding files and folders to a zip file that you are creating after doing some kind of sequential processing of these files ?
You can either run "dopusrt.exe /cmd ..." several times, once for each command, or run a single "user command" which itself contains calls to other commands.
Do you gain anything by using Opus instead of a command-line zip program (like the one in John's post) for this kind of purpose? If not then I'd go with a command-line program to keep things simple and reliable (especially if you're going to have to wait an arbitrary number of seconds for the zip to be created -- one day it'll take longer than usual because some other task happens to be slowing things down and the backup will go bad).
If the process is somewhat interactive, and you're going to be waiting for things, reacting to error messages (if any) and pressing buttons to make the next step of the job start then that's different.
Thanks for the insight. That's what I needed to know. It didn't occur to me that one could simply issue "dopusrt.exe /cmd ..." several times (and not start multiple instances of DOpus). I probably ought to use a command line zipper as you suggest, but I have gotten to the point where I just "hate" to install and learn yet one more program!
P.S. Thanks all for the tips. Sorry I didn't get back sooner but I live in Seattle. I am just now getting power back after that "famous" storm at the end of last week. I still don't have the cable back, but opened a dialup account today so I can at least do something.
I bicycle toured the Olympic Rainforest many years ago.
I flew to Seattle and assembled my bicycle at the airport .
A family member was a Northwest Airlines employee at the time.
I flew there from Green Bay, Wi. for $5.
A baggage worker there was kind enough to save my bicycle box for me .
Youthful stupidity, but I rode my bicycle to downtown Seattle and boarded a ferry.
I then toured the rainforest for two weeks ( early June ).
Incredibly beautiful isn't it ?
I can't climb mountains on bicycle these days, but I do hope to return some day.
Lush moss , gargantuan trees , huge frogs, eagles, and rain beyond belief !
It poured at dawn every morning except one.
That morning I was awoken by a Golden Eagle circling my tent.
Perhaps it was the leftover fish and oysters ?
I'll let Nudel take things from here.
I think perhaps you misunderstand dopusrt.exe yet.
If you run several dopusrt.exe commands keep in mind that they won't wait for each other to finish, so things may run in parallel, or other commands in your script may run before the Opus parts are finished.
I heard about the Storm. It knocked out Valve's Steam servers so nobody could play their games.
Zippo