[Bug-tar] update version of tar-snapshot-edit script

[Nathan Stratton Treadway]

During a recent discussion on the amanda-users mailing list, we
discovered that the tar-snapshot-edit script currently found at

  http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/utils/tar-snapshot-edit

doesn't work with recent versions of Perl.  (It works when I try it with
Perl 5.8.8, but not with, for example, Perl 5.10.1 from Ubuntu Lucid.)

I suppose the lack of complaints about this problem before now is an
indication that the script isn't being used too often these days, but it
still seems like it might prove useful from time to time. So I'm
attaching an updated version of the script which appears to work
correctly with both versions of Perl (and presumably later ones as
well).


(This new version also includes a separate "check snapshot file for
invalid field values" function which I had written back in 2009 [as part
of another amanda-users discussion], as well as a few other tweaks that
got added as I was testing the new script.)


Thanks.

                                                        Nathan





p.s. Pointers to those other threads, just in case anyone actually wants
to track them down:

1) amanda-user thread where we noticed that the old version didn't work
   under Lucid:

     Subject heading "Understanding Amanda", date 22 Aug 2011.
     this thread as found in various archives:
        
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.sysutils.backup.amanda.general/38649/focus=38664
        http://archives.zmanda.com/amanda-archives/viewtopic.php?t=6804
        http://www.mail-archive.com/address@hidden/msg45856.html


2) "Unexpected field value in snapshot file" thread

      Subject headings "How to debug a sendbackup.", date 28 May 2009.
         (also "sendbackup gtar error" from 27 May 2009)
      archive URLs:
          
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.sysutils.backup.amanda.general/35018
          http://www.mail-archive.com/address@hidden/msg42274.html 
          http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/amanda-users/message/67255

   (After the initial short list discussion, I added the "check"
   function to the tar-snapshot-edit script, and the OP did use that to
   confirm that there was a file in his filesystem which had a mtime
   value where the nsec field had an invalid value [and to identify the
   name of the file in question].  Unfortunately I never did post a
   summary reporting all that back to the list....

   For what it's worth the "archivum" link that I mentioned in that
   thread is no longer correct.  The message in question is now
   found at
     http://www.archivum.info/address@hidden/2009-03/msg00027.html
   , or 
     http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2009-03/msg00069.html
   [Subject line: 
      Re: "unexpected field value in snapshot file" error (Savannah bug #18487)
    , dated 23 Mar 2009.]
   )
  


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tar-snapshot-edit
Description: Text document