Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!yetti!geac!daveb
From: daveb@geac.UUCP (Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Symbolic Links
Message-ID: <1256@geac.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Aug-87 08:49:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: geac.1256
Posted: Thu Aug 27 08:49:27 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 29-Aug-87 07:38:29 EDT
References: <8731@brl-adm.ARPA> <2789@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com>
Reply-To: daveb@geac.UUCP (Dave Collier-Brown)
Organization: The little blue rock next to that twinkly star.
Lines: 30
Summary: technique

In article <197@hobbes.UUCP> root@hobbes.UUCP (John Plocher) writes:
>  This is the difference between a deterministic method (what we have now) and
>a nondeterministic one (what is proposed).  I'll take the former any day!
  Please record one vote for deterministic...  --dave

  However, I don't really want to discuss the semantics of symlinks
today, but instead discuss a technique:

	Make symbolic links to directories *reflexive*.

  Ie, the (shell) command "lnb some/path [some/other/path]" should
create a symlink to the fully-expanded value of some/path in the
directory referred to as some/other/path, or the current directory
if none is specified. (With suitable behavior on error).
  Similarly, an option to "lc" should list links to directories
in some conveniently distinguished way.

  This allows one to think of the file system as having two
"aspects", each with their own "attributes", and still keep
them mentally distinct (with apologies to Zelazney).
  1) Trees, implemented with inode/directory hierarchies 
  2)  Near-arbitrary graphs, implemented with pairs of names.  

  I would comment more on the psychology, but I suspect this is
sufficient for wizards...
-- 
 David Collier-Brown.                 {mnetor|yetti|utgpu}!geac!daveb
 Geac Computers International Inc.,   |  Computer Science loses its
 350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, |  memory (if not its mind)
 CANADA, L3R 1B3 (416) 475-0525 x3279 |  every 6 months.