Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!cadeta!galbp!wittsend.LBP.HARRIS.COM!mhw From: mhw@wittsend.LBP.HARRIS.COM (Michael H. Warfield (Mike)) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Ghost file Message-ID: <6512@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM> Date: 16 Nov 88 21:31:17 GMT References: <17529@adm.BRL.MIL> Sender: news@galbp.LBP.HARRIS.COM Reply-To: mhw@wittsend.UUCP (Michael H. Warfield (Mike)) Distribution: na Organization: Harris/Lanier Network Knitting Circle Lines: 25 In article <17529@adm.BRL.MIL> ZAT011%DJUKFA11.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Thomas Heil) writes: >I got a little problem with a "ghost file". It appears when I list the >contents of a directory, but it can't be accessed in any way - every >program tells me it doesn't exist. It can't even be removed. But the >directory (only containing that file) cannot be removed because it's not >empty. And I can even create another file with the same name which then >appears twice. Seems to me like a file system corruption due to a >missing shutdown before the plug was pulled. Yeah. It isn't a ghost file, it's a file with a non-printing character in the name (like a space or a tab or a bell ....). When you create a new file of the "same" name, it doesn't have the embedded boggy so you really have two files with two different names that simply appear alike. If you have everything out of the directory, the easiest thing to do is "rm -r " from the parent directory. Thougher, but doable, is to use some diagnostic tools to do direct editing on the "directory" entry and change the name to something real. Tricks like that should only be attempted out of shear despiration and only if you are willing to risk the potential catastrophic damage any simple mistake can cause (doesn't sound like you're that far yet). Michael H. Warfield (The Mad Wizard) | gatech.edu!galbp!wittsend!mhw (404) 270-2123 / 270-2098 | mhw@wittsend.LBP.HARRIS.COM An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist is sure of it!