fsspec / fsspec/filesystem_spec

What to do with missing files in bulk operations

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Python
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Description

Currently, if you do any of the bulk operations, if one or more of the targets encounters an error (e.g., file is missing), the overall process will fail. In the case of cp, this likely means the rest of the files got copied; in the case of mv, it may be that most files got copied, but none deleted (oh no!); in the case of cat, you would get no output, and in the case of get, you probably would get all the files that succeeded.

How to handle all of these cases? Should there be an "ignore errors" mode, or some other form of transaction, and what should the return from cat be (dict with only successful keys, dict with None or exception instance for failures, something else?)?

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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Research direction

Read the bulk cp, mv, cat, and get entry points and compare how each behaves when one target is missing. The issue leaves error handling and return-value semantics open, so completion requires an agreed design for partial failures before implementation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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