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From: markf@zurich.ai.mit.edu
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.andrew
Subject: Re: Ez of symbolically linked files.
Message-ID: <9006281834.AA10268@zurich.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 28 Jun 90 18:34:17 GMT
References: <AaVXzTm00as985Skp3@andrew.cmu.edu>
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Reply-To: markf@zurich.ai.mit.edu
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>> From: Adam Stoller <ghoti+@andrew.cmu.edu>
>> To: Info-Andrew <info-andrew+@andrew.cmu.edu>
>> Subject: Re: Ez of symbolically linked files.
>> In-Reply-To: <9006251438.AA01624@zurich.ai.mit.edu>
>> References: <9006251438.AA01624@zurich.ai.mit.edu>
>> 
>> EZ currently offers the feature of being able to warn you about saving
>> [Save As] a file with a name that is already in use and [Save] about
>> possibly overwriting changes which occured underneath your editing
>> session.
>> 
>> It seems to me a similar device (lstat?) could be used to determine if
>> the file which is about to be written is actually a symbolic (or hard??)
>> link and warn you of that as well.
>> 
>> I haven't looked at the code that does the former (nor am I volunteering
>> to do the latter) - but I can't imagine it would be that hard? 
>> (probably the hardest thing is to figure out how to word the question
>> that needs to be answered)
>> 
>> --fish

For my emacs write-file-hook I have a mechanism like the following:

if file <filename> is a symbolic link then
  ask "Symbolic link. Overwrite <linked-to-filename>? "
  if the answer is yes then
    overwrite the file that the link points to.
  else
    ask "Remove symbolic link and create %s? "
      if the answer is yes then
        remove the link and create the file <filename>.
      endif
  endif
endif

Note that two "no" answers allows you to totally back out of the write.
       

Mark Friedman
MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
545 Technology Sq.
Cambridge, Ma. 02139

markf@zurich.ai.mit.edu
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