naming directories
Glenn Skinner
glenn at nsc.UUCP
Sun Feb 19 16:28:27 AEST 1984
I've posted to new.sources a set of files and diff -c outputs for
incorporating naming directories into 4.2 bsd systmes.
The concept of a naming directory is taken from "Proposals for enhancements
of UNIX on the VAX", UCB CSRG TR/4, August, 1981. This document contains
proposals for many features to add to 4.1 bsd; it describes preliminary
thoughts on what later turned into 4.2 bsd. Naming directories were proposed,
but didn't make it into 4.2, presumably due to lack of time.
Each process in a system supporting naming directories has an additional
associated directory beyond the normal working and root directories. This
new directory, the naming directory, embodies a starting point for paths
starting with '@', just as the root directory is the starting point for
paths starting with '/'.
There is a new namedir system call for changing a process's naming directory;
it is analagous to the chdir and chroot system calls.
We've had this code installed on our system for about a month now and are
quite happy both with the implementation and with the naming directory
feature itself.
A separate distribution (to net.emacs) contains modifications to emacs
to handle naming directories.
Along with the changes to the C shell required for naming directory support,
we've added a new built in variable "hardpaths" for making life with symbolic
links easier. When hardpaths is set, the C shell resolves each directory
pathname it encounters to contain no symbolic links, replacing the pathname
with an equivalent path containing only hard links. We've found this variable
to be a great aid to sanity when coping with an environment rich in symbolic
links.
-- Glenn Skinner
National Semiconductor, Microprocessor Systems Division
(408) 733-2600 x 335
{fortune,menlo70,mtxinu}!nsc!glenn
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