How To Transfer Files Using the i Switch

Interleaf QuickSilver Frequently asked questions

How To Transfer Files Using the i Switch?

Use the -i switch to allow two IDU processes on the same network to communicate with each other in order to transfer desktop files.

  • At an operating system prompt, change directories to your desktop directory or to the directory containing the files you want to process.
  • Type the first IDU command.
    idu -i server[,id=idnumber][,password=user-password
    The idnumber variable is a unique number that you provide to distinguish this IDU process from another IDU process running on the same workstation. If you do not provide an idnumber, the process is assigned a default number.
    The userpassword variable is a string that you can supply. If you supply a password, the source workstation only transfers files with another IDU process that is run with the same password.
    The brackets indicate optional parts of the command.
    Do not type them.
    For example, to start the process without using an id number or a password, type: idu -i server. If you did not use the -v switch, you will not see a message. If you used the -v switch, you see the message: idu server: started.
  • . Go to the second workstation and execute the second IDU command.
    idu -i command,host=firstworkstationname[,id=idnumber] [,dir=directoryname][,password=userpassword] in putnames
    The command variable is either put, get, hello, or shutdown. Use put if you are transferring files from your workstation to the remote workstation. Use get if you are transferring files from the remote workstation to the local one. Use hello if you want to see if the IDU server process is running. Use shutdown to stop the IDU process on the remote system.
    For example, to transfer a document named Joe from a workstation named clayton and you did not specify a user id or a password when you started the first IDU process, you type: idu -i get,host=clayton Joe.ildoc. If the input IDU file is in the same directory where you executed the first IDU command, the inputnames variable is the name of the IDU file. If the input IDU file is in a different directory, the inputnames variable is the relative pathname from the directory where you executed the first IDU command.
    The files or directories appear in the directory listing and, after the next update, as icons on the QuickSilver desktop or within the appropriate desktop subdirectory.
  • If your QuickSilver desktop is open and you want to see the icons immediately, choose Update from the View menu.
  • Terminate the first IDU process.
    idu -i host=firstworkstationname,shutdown
    You can issue this command from either workstation.


Add Directories Only [-y]
Instructs the filter to add only directories, and not the files within the directories, to an IDU file.

Exclude Related Files [-z]
Excludes all attribute files and other document related files from the IDU file. If you use -zz, you can specify exceptions.
When you use -zz, place the attribute file before any of the files to which it related or your files may receive an incorrect filename.

Convert Files to or from Interleaf Publisher Format [-3]
(Windows) Converts files to or from Interleaf Publisher format. You must use this switch with either the -c switch (when copying files from a Publisher desktop) or the -x switch (when extracting files to a Publisher desktop).

(Windows) To convert Interleaf 5 files to Publisher format or to convert Publisher files to Interleaf 5 on any platform other than DOS, you must first save them as Interleaf ASCII. To convert Publisher files to Interleaf 5 for DOS, this is unnecessary.


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