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
  • Modifying Tranpose Config Directly
• Development

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 zsh                           # Remove symlink, move ~/.local/share/transpose/zsh_config -> ~/.config/zsh, remove cache
transpose apply zsh                             # Recreate symlink in store path (useful after moving Store Path location)

transpose store -s /mnt/backups ~/.config/zsh zsh_config    # Move ~/.config/zsh -> /mnt/backups/zsh_config, create symlink

Usage

See transpose --help for more information on each comment

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 Game1

The above will (assuming all the defaults):

1. Remove the symlink at /home/user/Documents/games/MyGame (from settings file)
2. Move $XDG_DATA_HOME/transpose/Game1 to /home/user/Documents/games/MyGame

Applying a Previously Transpose Managed Directory

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

This is most useful when moving the stored directory.

transpose apply "Game1"

Modifying Tranpose Config Directly

It's possible to modify the tranpose configuration file, STORE_PATH/transpose.json, using the console:

transpose config add "NewEntry" "/path/to/location"
transpose config get "NewEntry"
transpose config list
transpose config remove "NewEntry"

Development

poetry install
poetry add --dev black
poetry update # Only to update to latest versions, update poetry.lock

poetry run python src/transpose/console.py
poetry run pytest --cov=transpose --cov-report html tests

poetry shell