Index: archive.scm
==================================================================
--- archive.scm
+++ archive.scm
@@ -147,11 +147,15 @@
 			   (if s (string->symbol s) 'bup)))
 	 (archiver-cmd   (case archiver
 			   ((tar) "tar cfj ARCHIVE_NAME.tar.bz2 ")
 			   ((7z)  " 7z u -t7z -m0=lzma -mx=9 -mfb=64 -md=32m -ms=on ARCHIVE_NAME.7z ")
 			   (else #f)))
-	 (print-prefix      "Running: ")) ;; change to #f to turn off printing
+	 (print-prefix      "Running: ") ;; change to #f to turn off printing
+	 (preclean-spec  (configf:get-section *configdat* "archive-preclean")))
+
+    ;;     (tests:match patt testname itempath)
+    
     ;; from the test info bin the path to the test by stem
     ;;
     (for-each
      (lambda (test-dat)
        (let* ((item-path         (db:test-get-item-path test-dat))
@@ -191,12 +195,28 @@
 	       (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "       use [archive] minspace to specify minimum available space")
 	       (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "   disks: "
 			    (string-intersperse (map cadr (archive:get-archive-disks)) "\n         "))
 	       (exit 1))
 	     (debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "Using path " archive-dir " for archiving test " test-path))
-	 
- 	 (cond
+
+	 ;; preclean the test directory per the spec if provided
+	 (if (not (null? preclean-spec)) ;; we've been asked to preclean before archiving
+	     (let loop ((spec (car preclean-spec))
+			(tail (cdr preclean-spec)))
+	       (if (> (length spec) 1)
+		   (let ((testspec (car spec))
+			 (rules    (cadr spec)))
+		     (if (tests:match testspec test-name item-path)
+			 (begin
+			   (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "INFO: cleanup requested for " test-physical-path)
+			   (common:dir-clean-up test-physical-path rules remove-empty: #t))
+			 (if (not (null? tail))
+			     (loop (car tail)(cdr tail)))))
+		   (begin
+		     (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "ERROR: bad spec line in [archive-preclean] section. \"" spec "\"")
+		     (if (not (null? tail))(loop (car tail)(cdr tail)))))))
+	 (cond
 	  (toplevel/children
 	   (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: cannot archive " test-name " with id " test-id
 			" as it is a toplevel test with children"))
 	  ((not (common:file-exists? test-path))
 	   (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: Cannot archive " test-name "/" item-path

Index: megatest.scm
==================================================================
--- megatest.scm
+++ megatest.scm
@@ -999,15 +999,16 @@
 	(let ((val (configf:lookup data (args:get-arg "-section")(args:get-arg "-var"))))
 	  (if val (print val))))
 
        ;; print just a section if only -section
 
-       ((not (args:get-arg "-dumpmode"))
+       ((equal? (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") "sexp")
 	(pp (hash-table->alist data)))
-       ((string=? (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") "json")
+       ((equal? (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") "json")
 	(json-write data))
-       ((string=? (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") "ini")
+       ((or (not (args:get-arg "-dumpmode"))
+	    (string=? (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") "ini"))
 	(configf:config->ini data))
        (else
 	(debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "-dumpmode of " (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") " not recognised")))
       (set! *didsomething* #t)
       (pop-directory)