Hi,

Git-annex is really awesome. It has made my life really easier when having to
move files around.

Yet, I have been struggling with a use case that I cannot get working with git
annex.

In short, my request is: could it be possible to have --want-get and --want-drop
accept a repository as argument to match the preferred content of that
repository instead of here?

Now, let me explain why I need this:a

All my files are stored into a NAS accessible via a local network.

I have an annex in my desktop computer. Using preferred content (via "git annex
wanted") and "git annex get|drop --auto", I am able to almost automatically
handle what files are put into my computer. What I do is to "git annex wanted"
to indicate what I want to be here and launch a home made script that basically
does "git annex get --auto" and "git annex drop --auto".

Let's say I have a android phone to which I connect via ssh over adb. It
contains a git repository but few files are in it. It has no wifi and so no
access to the network, meaning no access to the NAS.

The links between annexes then looks like:

    NAS <-> Computer <-> Phone

When I want to put a file into my phone, I generally launch "git annex get file"
from my computer (then I get the file from the NAS) and "git annex copy --to
phone file".

I want to be able to automatise this a bit by playing with preferred content
(like I do with my computer). This means that I want to launch "git annex
wanted" to edit the preferred content of the phone annex and then "git annex get
--auto" and launch "git annex copy --auto --to phone". This way, when I am not
in front of my computer, I can still from my phone run "git annex wanted here
'preferred content'" and hope for my synchronisation scripts (run in my
computer) to put the good files into my phone.

Obviously those commands won't work since the git annex get --auto command will
only get what my computer wants, not what my phone wants.

The intuitive (IMHO) way to do would be to launch:

    git annex get --want-get phone
	git annex copy --auto --to phone
	git annex drop --auto

With "--want-get repository" meaning, "Matches files that the preferred content
settings for the repository make it want to get.".

For the time being, I succeed in doing this with

	OLD_WANTED=$(git annex wanted here)
	git annex wanted here $(git annex wanted phone)
	git annex copy --auto --to phone
	git annex wanted ${OLD_WANTED}
	git annex drop --auto

This is complicated and adds two extra commits in the git-annex branch (one for
each setting of git annex wanted) each time I call the script.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.
