Question

Any suggestions for how to split a web? I want to create a new web (which I know how to do), then move many of the files from one of the current webs into the new one. I don't want to have to go through the manual RenameTopic dance for each topic; rather, I'd just like to feed a list of topics to be moved to a script. Can I just move the files from one directory to the other if I don't care about leaving a history of the move behind, or will that completely confuse the version control system?

-- MitchellModel - 12 Jan 2003

Answer

As long as you have "administrative" access to the TWiki server (i.e., you can move files around on the server using the CLI or whatever), you can move the <topic_name>.txt and <topic_name>.txt,v files to the directory for the other web and even preserve the history to a certain extent (although the history won't reflect the web split). Double check the ownership and permissions after you move the files -- wrong ownership or permissions can keep the pages from being viewed or edited.

Hmm, but see also: TWiki.ManagingWebs which provides some other useful hints or possibilities.

-- RandyKramer - 12 Jan 2003

It is more or less safe to simply move topic to another web using the shell by copying the .txt and .txt,v files, and in case present, move also the attachment directory of the same name like the topic.

Things to watch out for:

• Parent info might be broken. This can be fixed by setting a new parent (from the "More" link)
• mailnotify will not catch the moved topics in case there was a recent change

-- PeterThoeny - 14 Jan 2003