Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site nsc.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!vaxine!wjh12!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-vax!eagle!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!menlo70!nsc!glenn From: glenn@nsc.UUCP (Glenn Skinner) Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards Subject: naming directories Message-ID: <627@nsc.UUCP> Date: Sun, 19-Feb-84 01:28:27 EST Article-I.D.: nsc.627 Posted: Sun Feb 19 01:28:27 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 15-Feb-84 06:15:10 EST Organization: National Semiconductor, Sunnyvale Lines: 37 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