Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!esosun!cogen!celerity!jjw
From: jjw@celerity.UUCP (Jim )
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Accessing files by inode #s
Message-ID: <530@celerity.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jan 88 21:58:28 GMT
References: <831@dolqci.UUCP>
Reply-To: jjw@celerity.UUCP (Jim (JJ) Whelan)
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization
Lines: 24
Keywords: inode find
Summary: Watch out for other file systems

In article <11470@brl-adm.ARPA> iunix1@almsa-1.arpa (Will Martin) asks:
>Is there some trick I just don't know that would allow me to refer to a
>file by its inode # in performing otherwise-ordinary UNIX commands,
>like "cp" or "rm"? Or have people written special commands that will do
>this sort of thing? 

And in article <831@dolqci.UUCP> stein@dolqci.UUCP (Mike Stein) responds:
>     Yes!  You can do anything you want via
>
>          find <path> -inum <inode> -exec <command> \;

***********************************************************************
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
***********************************************************************

The find will traverse file mount points so you may locate files in file
systems other than the one you are interested in.  Be especially careful
with using "rm -f" as the command.

It is possible to use "-ok" instead of "-exec" which will ask if you want
the operation to be performed when the file(s) are located.  However the
"find" can take a long time on large file systems.

					-- J. J. Whelan