Symlinks (was Re: [OS X TeX] Fwd: Unwanted files have which extensions?)

[Claus Gerhardt]

According to the manual the ln command only works for files, though the 
name of the target could be the name of a  different directory, in 
which case a link with the name of the original file will be created in 
that directory. It is also possible to issue the command with more than 
two arguments, where the last argument is the name of a directory.

Claus

On 19.08.2004, at 02:18, Bruno Voisin wrote:

> Le 19 août 04, à 01:53, Stefan Walsen a écrit :
>
>> Bruno Voisin wrote [with typo edited]:
>>> I've never got the syntax of ln to work exactly as I wanted it to, 
>>> for  example specifying the name of the symlink to be different from 
>>> the name of the original file (or directory). [...]
>>> Maybe some Unix-knowledgeable people on this list would have more  
>>> helpful indications on the precise syntax of ln?
>>
>> It's quite simple, really:
>>
>> You just supply the name you want the symlink to have as a second 
>> argument to ln.
>>
>>   ln -s <original> <link>
>>
>> will give you a symlink called <link> pointing to the <original>.
>> <original> can be an absolute (beginning with "/") or relative 
>> pathname, and <original>, the "link target", does not need to exist.
>> If an existing directory is given as <link>, a symlink with the name 
>> of the original will be created in the given directory.
>
> That's where I see a problem: I expected to be able, for a directory 
> as well as for a file, to create, by using the above syntax, a symlink 
> with name different from that of the original directory. Alas, it 
> seems that's not possible.
>
> By the way, is it <link> or <original> that you meant above, in "If an 
> existing directory is given as a <link>?
>
> More explicitly, because I've the impression my explanations above are 
> a little bit obscure (I'm working very long days currently, thus I'm 
> sleep-deprived and a bit phased out): I was expecting to be able to 
> use the syntax "ln -s <original> <link>" to be able to create, in the 
> current directory, a symlink of name <link> to the directory 
> <original> (which may be an absolute or relative path if needed); 
> however, I'm under the impression that this syntax, which works for 
> files, doesn't work for directories, and that for a directory all I 
> can use is "ln -s <original>" to create, in the current directory, a 
> symlink, of name <original> (with all possible "/" in original 
> omitted), to the directory <original>. Or maybe it's needed to add or 
> remove a "/" at the end of the name of a directory, to make ln 
> understand it's a directory?
>
> Bruno Voisin
> --------------------- Info ---------------------
> Mac-TeX Website: http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex/
>           & FAQ: http://latex.yauh.de/faq/
> TeX FAQ: http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
> List Post: <mailto:MacOSX-TeX at email.esm.psu.edu>
>
>

--------------------- Info ---------------------
Mac-TeX Website: http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex/
           & FAQ: http://latex.yauh.de/faq/
TeX FAQ: http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
List Post: <mailto:MacOSX-TeX at email.esm.psu.edu>