Re: Integrate Tramp

[Kai Großjohann]

"Robert J. Chassell" <address@hidden> writes:

> Thank you!  Now I understand.
>
> From this I infer that this means that you can *not* use a method like
> `smx' or `su' in a multi-hop connection.  Instead, you must use only a
> `plain' method, such as `ssh' or `telnet'.  The `multi'/`multiu'
> distinction tells the most remote machine what to use.  Am I right?

Actually, the list of "hop methods" is in the variable
tramp-multi-connection-function-alist.  The list is also given in the
node "(tramp)Multi-hop Methods" in the info file.

> In other words, my example should look like this:
>
>     /address@hidden|address@hidden:/home/bob/

This looks correct.

> If so, I am a little bit bothered, since it would seem easier to me
>
>   * to provide only one kind of `multi' tag, 

Indeed, this would be good.  This goes well together with the
auto-detection of base64 encoding versus uuencode encoding that I've
put on my todo list.

>   * which would be optional, since a `multi' tag is no longer needed,

Yes, it wouldn't be so difficult to change Tramp so that it looks for
"|" to figure out if it's a single-hop or multi-hop filename.

>   * to tell users that they need only provide `plain' methods on the
>     intermediary hops,

I've tried to do that in the above mentioned info node.

>   * but let users provide methods like `smx' or `tu' if they wish,
>     since they may simply be copying the types used for single hop
>     connections.  (The `mimencode' or `uuencode' commands can be
>     ignored for intermediary hops.)

The "hop methods" are treated quite differently from the normal
methods, as you can see when you look at the description of the
variable tramp-multi-connection-function-alist.

(Why isn't that variable named something like
tramp-multi-method-alist?  Argh.  Sorry.)

>   * and tell users that they *must* specify a `mimencode' or
>     `uuencode' command for the most remote machine (unless the
>     connection can automatically default or be auto-dectected).

How about a different approach: The user can choose whether multi or
multiu is the default multi method.  Then, when using a "|" filename
without specifying a method, Tramp always uses the default multi
method.

> Based on this suggestion, my file name would look like the following,
> with the `smx' being read only for the SSH part and the `su' telling
> Emacs that this is a uuencoding style connection:
>
>     /address@hidden|address@hidden:/home/bob/
>
> And I could also, equally well, write the file name like this, which
> would be more `proper':
>
>     /address@hidden|address@hidden:/home/bob/

I don't think that this approach makes sense because the information
in tramp-methods (which lists methods like smx and su) and the
information in tramp-multi-connection-function-alist is so dissimilar.

Maybe I should have used very different names for the hop methods,
such as m1 through m5...

kai
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