Transpose

A tool for moving and symlinking directories to a central location

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Installation
• Quick Reference
• Usage
  • Storing a Directory
  • Restoring a Stored Directory
  • Applying a Previously Transpose Managed Directory

Introduction

I've been using linux as my main machine for a while and wanted a central directory to backup as backing up my entire HOME directory was a mess. I found moving directories and symlinking worked great. I created a simple project when learning python (I called symlinker) and used it for a while but found it annoying to configure and work with.

I recently found I could use a tool like this for a SteamDeck and decided to start from scratch with better code and easier to use.

This is the current result, although it still needs a lot of work as I'm sure I'm not doing things particularly well.

Additionally, the name transpose was sort of chosen at random and has no particular meaning currently. I'd like to change it in the future but haven't really come up with any suitable replacement.

Installation

Can be installed via pip. For instance, from within a virtualenv:

python -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install .

Quick Reference

transpose store   ~/.config/zsh                 # Move ~/.config/zsh -> ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh, create symlink, create cache
transpose restore ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh  # Remove symlink, move ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh -> ~/.config/zsh, remove cache
transpose apply   ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh  # Recreate symlink in cache location
transpose create  ~/.config/zsh ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh  # Recreate cache file

transpose store -s /mnt/backups ~/.config/zsh zsh_config    # Move ~/.config/zsh -> /mnt/backups/zsh_config, create symlink, create cache
transpose restore --cache-filename .mycache.json /mnt/backups/zsh_config  # Use /mnt/backup/.zsh_config.json for restoring a stored directory

Usage

Storing a Directory

Storing a directory will:

1. Move a target to $STORE_PATH/{name}
2. Symlink target to $STORE_PATH/{name}
3. Create a cache file at $STORE_PATH/{name}/.transpose.json to store the original target path

transpose store /home/user/Documents "My Documents"

The above will (assuming using all the defaults):

1. Move /home/user/Documents to $XDG_DATA_HOME/transpose/My Documents
2. Symlink /home/user/Documents to $XDG_DATA_HOME/transpose/My Documents

Note: The name on the end (My Documents above), can be ommitted. The stored name will use the target name (e.g. Documents above)

Restoring a Stored Directory

Restoring a directory will:

1. Remove the old symlink in the original_path of the cache file, $STORE_PATH/{name}/.transpose.json
2. Move the stored directory to the original_path

transpose restore "/home/user/.local/share/transpose/My Documents"

The above will (assuming all the defaults):

1. Remove the symlink at /home/user/Documents (from cache file)
2. Move $XDG_DATA_HOME/transpose/My Documents to /home/user/Documents

Applying a Previously Transpose Managed Directory

This will recreate the symlink based on the cache file within the directory.

This is most useful when moving the stored directory.

transpose apple "/home/user/.local/share/transpose/My Documents"