Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!doug-merritt
From: doug-merritt@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: system shock, df0: --> a:
Message-ID: <5735@cup.portal.com>
Date: 21 May 88 21:15:50 GMT
References: <1756@van-bc.UUCP> <7200036@uiucdcsm> <498@dworld.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 32
XPortal-User-Id: 1.1001.4407

Nic Bernstein writes:
>	On a related note, can anybody think of a way to alias the root
>character from : to / for all of us forgetful types?

I've conceived a way to do it as far as AmigaDOS is concerned, but
the problem is that there's a lot of software that make explicit assumptions
about the meaning of ':' and '/' etc, so that to allow Unix style names
like "/df0/c/rename" instead of "df0:c/rename" would require modifications
to all of those utilities, too. There's a long shot approach I'm still
working on that might allow it to work 100% (i.e. invisibly). You'll
hear about it if I succeed.

>Or how about mounting
>a volume in the middle of another volume's hierarchy, and maybe some soft
>and hard links, and how about.....

That part is relatively easy, although I don't know how long it'll take
me to finish it. I should say it's conceptually easy. The code is kind
of hairy. Interestingly enough, I had a harder time with the design
of hard links than with symbolic links...originally I thought it would
be the other way around. And I'm not sure I like the performance hit
that my solution imposes.

>	Oh never mind, I must have been dreaming there...

Or maybe I am...I haven't actually got it working yet...design looks
good but it's vaporware until it works. Would there be a market for
a file system enhancement package like this, do you think?
	Doug
      Doug Merritt        ucbvax!sun.com!cup.portal.com!doug-merritt
                      or  ucbvax!eris!doug (doug@eris.berkeley.edu)
                      or  ucbvax!unisoft!certes!doug