From 0ea6f28018f6553316a67332d5ac483c6fb3b9be Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: hniksic <devnull@localhost>
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 03:19:30 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] [svn] Document new behavior of -c. Published in
<sxs7l028zee.fsf@florida.arsdigita.de>.
---
doc/ChangeLog | 4 ++++
doc/wget.texi | 34 +++++++++++++++++++---------------
2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
diff --git a/doc/ChangeLog b/doc/ChangeLog
index d5f5f644..5423e74c 100644
--- a/doc/ChangeLog
+++ b/doc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2001-04-28 Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@arsdigita.com>
+
+ * wget.texi (Wgetrc Commands): Update docs for `continue'.
+
2001-04-27 Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@arsdigita.com>
* wget.texi (HTTP Options): Document cookie options.
diff --git a/doc/wget.texi b/doc/wget.texi
index 556768af..e3df048c 100644
--- a/doc/wget.texi
+++ b/doc/wget.texi
@@ -572,23 +572,27 @@ this invocation of Wget, and whose local files are still sitting around.
Without @samp{-c}, the previous example would just download the remote
file to @file{ls-lR.Z.1}, leaving the truncated @file{ls-lR.Z} file
-alone.
+alone.
-If you use @samp{-c} on a file which is now smaller on the server than
-locally (presumably because it was changed on the server since your last
-download attempt), the file will be re-downloaded from scratch.
-Unfortunately this also happens if the local file is the same length as
-the server file---this will be fixed in a future version of Wget, but in
-the meantime you can use @samp{--timestamping} to prevent this on files
-for which the server gives timestamps (e.g. static files but not CGI
-output or @sc{http} directory listings).
+Beginning with Wget 1.7, if you use @samp{-c} on a non-empty file, and
+it turns out that the server does not support continued downloading,
+Wget will refuse to start the download from scratch, which would
+effectively ruin existing contents. If you really want the download to
+start from scratch, remove the file.
+
+Also beginning with Wget 1.7, if you use @samp{-c} on a file which is of
+equal size as the one on the server, Wget will refuse to download the
+file and print an explanatory message. The same happens when the file
+is smaller on the server than locally (presumably because it was changed
+on the server since your last download attempt)---because ``continuing''
+is not meaningful, no download occurs.
On the other side of the coin, while using @samp{-c}, any file that's
bigger on the server than locally will be considered an incomplete
-download and only @code{(length(server) - length(local))} bytes will
-be downloaded and tacked onto the end of the local file. This behavior
-can be desirable in certain cases---for instance, you can use @samp{wget
--c} to download just the new portion that's been appended to a data
+download and only @code{(length(remote) - length(local))} bytes will be
+downloaded and tacked onto the end of the local file. This behavior can
+be desirable in certain cases---for instance, you can use @samp{wget -c}
+to download just the new portion that's been appended to a data
collection or log file.
However, if the file is bigger on the server because it's been
@@ -1901,8 +1905,8 @@ Same as @samp{-A}/@samp{-R} (@pxref{Types of Files}).
Enable/disable host-prefixed file names. @samp{-nH} disables it.
@item continue = on/off
-Enable/disable continuation of the retrieval---the same as @samp{-c}
-(which enables it).
+If set to on, force continuation of preexistent partially retrieved
+files. See @samp{-c} before setting it.
@item background = on/off
Enable/disable going to background---the same as @samp{-b} (which