Possibility so that --max-size AFFECTS --delete ?

[Stefan Nowak]

Hello rsyncers!

PRACTICAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

Backup1 shall be identical to Original. My traditional custom. NO HELP  
NEEDED for this.
Backup2 shall only be a subset of the original, only files with a  
certain maximum size and filename/suffix pattern get included. For  
this I use rsync's filename filters and size limitations! HELP NEEDED  
here! Thanks!

QUESTION:

Is there a possibility, so that --max-size AFFECTS --delete actually?

Situation where it makes sense: Imagine that I had the rule --max- 
size=1M and my backup-storage is satisfying. But one day it ain't  
enough anymore, and I decide to lower down to --max-size=512K. The  
files larger than 512K at the destination DO NOT GET DELETED!  
Currently the only solution is to rm -r /my/backup/* and then start  
the process again with the new size limitations.

The manpage of rsync 3.0.6 for option --max-size reads:
[...] This option is a transfer rule, not an exclude, so it doesn't  
affect the data that goes into the file-lists, and thus it doesn't  
affect deletions. It just limits the files that the receiver requests  
to be transferred. [...]

The content of this newsgroup post, makes me think, that in earlier  
versions --max-size may have once AFFECTED --delete:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.network.rsync.general/12024

Regards, Stefan Nowak



=== MY PARTIAL BACKUP SCRIPT ===

rsync \
--protect-args \
\
--recursive \
--one-file-system \
--links \
--hard-links \
--times \
--crtimes \
--perms \
--owner \
--group \
--acls \
--devices \
--specials \
--xattrs \
--fileflags \
--force-change \
\
--verbose \
--stats \
--progress \
--itemize-changes \
--human-readable \
\
--delete \
--delete-excluded \
--max-size=10k \
\
--filter="merge "$HOME"/bin/sync-home-dir-partially.filter" \
--prune-empty-dirs \
\
$HOME/ \
/Volumes/backup/$HOME/

=== MY FILTER FILE ===

## INCLUSION LIST
### 1a) Include all dirs (so that rsync can recurse down).
+ */
### 1b) Exclude special Mac OS X dirs (bundles). They may contain  
files with valid suffixes! Hence, already exclude them before they can  
get a chance of inclusion.
- *.app/**
### 2a) Include all desired suffixes.
+ *.txt
+ *.text
+ *.rtf
+ *.doc
+ *.docx
+ *.htm
+ *.html
+ *.xhtml
+ *.xml
+ *.wiki
+ *.mathpad
### 2b) Include all files without suffixes (those which do not contain  
a dot). Important on Mac OS X, for those files which still use  
resource forks or type/creator for file type determination. And also  
important for Icon files.
+! *.*
### 3) Exclude anything (else the inclusion list).
- *