THANK YOU! - was [Re: Duplicating a partition's directory structure - How?]

[Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net>]

On 1/3/2017 5:28 AM, Sven Joachim wrote:
> On 2017-01-03 05:13 -0600, Richard Owlett wrote:
>
> > I wish to duplicate a partition's directory structure without any of
> > the existing file contents. The immediate application is a heavily
> > customized version of an installation DVD. There are two underlying
> > goals. I wish to reuse some existing utilities which expect to find
> > data in a particular branch of the directory tree. The second is very
> > similar in that a person familiar with a structure would assume that
> > certain types of information will be in a particular sub-directory.
> >
> > Also this will be an educational experience as I expect the answer
> > will be elegant in its simplicity and point me towards chasms in my
> > understanding of Linux.
>
> Found this solution on [1], it seems to work.
>
> $ rsync -a -f"+ */" -f"- *" source/ destination/
>
> Cheers,
>         Sven
>
>
> 1. http://psung.blogspot.com/2008/05/copying-directory-trees-with-rsync.html

That link was particularly valuable for its description of the 
scope of things that can be accomplished with "filter rules". 
Reading the man page for rsync is more productive for the 
perspective that blog post triggered.

Not only do I have an answer to my specific question but pointers 
to ideas that will simplify achieving my overall goals.