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From: chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: lost+found
Message-ID: <7996@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Aug-87 21:45:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: mimsy.7996
Posted: Sun Aug 16 21:45:37 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Aug-87 04:35:42 EDT
References: <180@LOGICON.LOGICON.UUCP> <142700014@tiger.UUCP> <561@murphy.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 20

In article <561@murphy.UUCP> dave@murphy.UUCP (Dave Cornutt) writes:
>Mkdir by itself isn't sufficient.

(Unless your fsck can create directory space.  Even if it can,
preallocated space is safer, given that fsck is working on a
potentially broken file system.)

>Now, here's my question: I've seen several postings here saying that BSD4.3
>is capable of shrinking directories.  In that case, if I create a bunch
>of files in a lost+found directory and then delete them, what's to stop
>it from shrinking the directory and undoing the effect?

A directory is truncated iff namei discovers empty slots at the end
while creating a new name (to do which it must scan the entire directory
anyway).  Directories are not truncated when namei is removing an
entry.  [Quibble: namei itself does not do the removing.  Nonetheless
it is given the reason for the name lookup.]
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7690)
Domain:	chris@mimsy.umd.edu	Path:	seismo!mimsy!chris