From: mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 08:03:10 -0500 (EST) Reply-To: mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca To: MORRIS JP cc: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Subject: Re: [opendos] Re: [opendos-developer] unix directory links in OD??? In-Reply-To: <199702101316.NAA24978@milly> Message-ID: Organization: Total disorganization. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Precedence: bulk On Mon, 10 Feb 1997, MORRIS JP wrote: > > > I was thinking today how useful the directory links from unix would be in > > > dos (OD). Now, I don't remember the exact name of what they are called, > > > but it should be added to the improvement list. I am sure it would be a > > > very simple addition... > > > > You COULD manually create 2 directory entries in a dir on your > > hard disk that would point to the same file in your FAT (a > > hardlink), however any disk maintenance software (such as CHKDSK, > > SCANDISK, NDD) will detect this and label it as an error. Ever > > hear of crosslinked files? > > I have achieved this on a floppy disk using Norton Utility. Me also. Norton Diskedit. > I simply changed the starting cluster and length fields of a dummy file I > created, and lo, a link! Yep. > However, as you say, chkdsk goes psychotic when it notices this, and deleting > the file tends to create problems. Big ones. > I was intending to create a utility that produced a file in the root directory > containing a list of all links, and hooked into the DOS API. Hmm. Interesting idea. I can think of several problems however. > When something bad occurs (deletion, low level access) all the links are > removed until the thing has finished, then they are reconstructed from the > link table in the root. Scary! Windows would render such a scheme useless in about 15 minutes! A system crash during a file deletion would be sure to destroy the mechanism. Also, it would be like a M$ kludge-hack. If you defragged the drive, you'd encounter some interesting problems too. > It would have been quite dangerous to do though. That is why I > would prefer to get a filesystem from Caldera instead of Mr > Nobody.. Yeah, the internet community will give us an ext2 FS within 6 months IMHO. Mike A. Harris | http://blackwidow.saultc.on.ca/~mharris Computer Consultant | My webpage has moved and my address has changed. My dynamic address: http://blackwidow.saultc.on.ca/~mharris/ip-address.html mailto:mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca Want a Windows emulator for Linux? Visit Caldera's website: www.caldera.com