Zip file structure inconvenient when upgrading MODx

I have a simple but annoying problem when upgrading MODx. According to the docs the first step (after backups) is to "simply upload the files over the existing ones." Sounds easy enough.

My usual modus operandi is to upload the Zip file to the production hosting site root, then decompress it, overwriting the appropriate files - wait a minute, it doesn’t overwrite the appropriate files, because the Zip file is structured thus:

modx-2.0.7-pl.zip -->> modx-2.0.7-pl -->> files

So, instead of overwriting the files by unzipping, I find myself with the new files in a folder named like the Zip file. Now maybe I’m missing something obvious, but without SSH access I don’t know of a good way to move those files to the site root en masse (or even one at a time) and overwrite their counterparts. I am under the impression that FTP doesn’t even support such an action, and cPanel’s legacy file manager certainly doesn’t.

My solution is to decompress the original Zip file on my local computer, dig into it, and recompress the files, without the folder, in a brand new Zip, which can then be used as described above.

Question 1: Is there another way to do this that I’m not thinking of?
Question 2: Will the Zip file always be distributed this way, or is there a possibility of just the files, not the folder, ever being zipped by default?

Thanks!

Actually I deal with this with my FTP client. I just select all the new files and folders in the unzipped folder and drag them up to the parent folder. The FTP client takes care of it all. I’m using Cyberduck on a Mac, so ymmv.

Quote from: sottwell at Jan 21, 2011, 02:37 AM

Actually I deal with this with my FTP client. I just select all the new files and folders in the unzipped folder and drag them up to the parent folder. The FTP client takes care of it all. I’m using Cyberduck on a Mac, so ymmv.

I’ve tried it with Filezilla and WinSCP on Windows, and neither will overwrite FTP-to-FTP. Maybe some "smart" FTP clients have a way to intelligently issue an actual "delete" command for all files being replaced.

I just tried this using Filezilla for Mac, and it offered a dialog about how to handle the overwrites. Are you not getting that in the Windows version? It basically did exactly what it was supposed to do...

Quote from: bazzlevi at Jan 21, 2011, 01:04 PM

I just tried this using Filezilla for Mac, and it offered a dialog about how to handle the overwrites. Are you not getting that in the Windows version? It basically did exactly what it was supposed to do...

No, I’m not. If I upload files directly from my computer to the remote FTP directory, it prompts for the overwrite, but moving/copying within the FTP directory itself, it doesn’t.

I never had much luck with FileZilla on Windows. I’m using the old standby WS_FTP LE. I use version 5.08. It’s fast and very solid and it overwrites by default (I think).

http://www.oldversion.com/WS_FTP_Limited_Edition.html

Quote from: BobRay at Jan 21, 2011, 01:46 PM

I never had much luck with FileZilla on Windows. I’m using the old standby WS_FTP LE.. I use version 5.08. It’s fast and very solid and it overwrites by default (I think).

http://www.oldversion.com/WS_FTP_Limited_Edition.html

Thanks, that does seem to work properly. Gives me another option besides repacking the Zip, anyway