Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!noao!ncar!gatech!utkcs2!ornl!rm3
From: rm3@ornl.gov (MCBROOM R C)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Symbolic link in MS-DOS
Message-ID: <1991May31.175753.14285@ornl.gov>
Date: 31 May 91 17:57:53 GMT
References: <1991May29.153829.8742@bullet.ecf.toronto.edu> <1991May30.045153.3337@oghma.ocunix.on.ca>
Reply-To: rm3@stc06.ctd.ornl.gov (MCBROOM R C)
Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab
Lines: 38

In article <1991May30.045153.3337@oghma.ocunix.on.ca> rjc@oghma.ocunix.on.ca (Robert J Carter) writes:
>In article <1991May29.153829.8742@bullet.ecf.toronto.edu> xiaoy@bullet.ecf (XIAO  Yan) writes:
...
>
>>Along
>>the same line, it should also be possible to have cross directory rename
>>command (rather than 'copy-delete' scheme which sometimes is hard to do).
>>I am no expert in FAT stuff.
>>
>>Any comment?
>>
>>Xiao
>
>Yes, you could do a cross-directory rename, with the caveat that you
>could step in much doggie-do if your machine goes down during the
>process, although the window would be very small. (I wrote a programme
>to do this a couple of years ago - god knows where it is now).
>Basically, this is the procedure:
>
>	-	Open the source directory
>	-	Open the destination directory
>	- 	Read the directory entry for the file to be moved
>	-	Write the *IDENTICAL* information into an empty
>		directory entry in the destination directory
>	-	Mark the source directory entry as deleted. Please note
>		that I said MARK - DO NOT use the O/S Delete File system
>		calls.
>	-	Close the source and destination directories.
>
>Note: NO mucking about with the FAT is involved! This is a (all things
>being relative) simple, 1 to 2 page C programme, using nothing more
>than open(), close(), read(), and write() calls.
>
Lots of the move utilities around do just this.  A couple that come to mind are
DIRMAGIC that was send out as a subscription enticement by PC-MAG and the move
function in Windows.  There are lots of others.

Robert McBroom internet: rm3@ornl.gov