rsync returns 23 (RERR_PARTIAL) when a file has been deleted after the list has been created.

[Wayne Davison]

On Wed, Aug 06, 2003 at 01:48:06PM +0100, Evan Skinner1 wrote:
> I believe this is happening because between the time rsync compiles
> the file list and the time rsync attempts to transfer the file the
> application has deleted it.

Yes, that can cause this error code to be returned.

> I think that this particular transfer failure should not be flagged as
> RC 23, as other RC 23 conditions are actual failures as opposed to the
> file list becoming outdated during the copy process.

Yeah, it's something that seems desirable to me (to differentiate this
specific partial-transfer condition).

One potential solution would be to not return an error code if the open
failures were all ENOENT errors on the sending side.

Another solution is to create a new file-vanished-during-transfer error
(for when the open errors consisted only of ENOENT errors), but we'd
give it error code 23 (for backward-compatibility reasons).  All other
partial-transfer errors would get a new error code with the same error
text as before.  (I wouldn't want to see a new option added to make this
new separation selectable, though.)

Thoughts?

..wayne..