Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!auspex!guy
From: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: finding the missing links
Keywords: ln
Message-ID: <1721@auspex.auspex.com>
Date: 31 May 89 18:02:52 GMT
References: <207@flattop.UUCP> <2654@erikb.cs.vu.nl>
Reply-To: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara
Lines: 11

>Unfortunately, it is not possible to use the device number to 'find' files.
>The combination of device and inode number uniquely determines a file within
>a (non-network-file-system) UNIX system.  Perhaps we should equip any future
>'find' program with the "-dnum <dnum>" primary expression.

Or perhaps we should equip any future "find" program with an option to
tell it not to cross file system boundaries; that's such a good idea
that Berkeley, in either 4.2BSD or 4.3BSD ("-xdev"), and AT&T, in S5R3
("-mount"), have already done it.  The advantage of such an option is
that it keeps "find" from wasting its time by marching off onto file
systems other than the one you're interested in....