09-18-2009
Ah.. I think you misunderstand what is meant by "creating a link". What you should do is create a backup directory path someplace safe. Then in that directory, create a HARD link to the user's userChrome.css file. When the new profile is created, simply create a HARD link in the user profile to the backup path.
This is what Frank is saying.. Not a soft link (aka symbolic link).
Quick note: The filesystem only really know files by their inode. The entry in the directory structure actually contains a filename and inode number in the filesystem. (The OS uses a vnode constructed from an inode.) Each inode contain a reference count. As long as the reference count is > 0, the file data will exist. So if you create a hard link to a file (using an existing filesystem directory entry or inode with a non-zero reference count), you create entry (path) in the filesystem that is just as valid as any other filesystem path that points to that inode. The file (from an system perspective) will not be deleted until the last hard link to the inode is deleted. Deleted it from one path and it's not there. But it is if you use one of the other hard links.
If the data is trashed, you can't restore it unless you are willing to pay the back-up-a-copy-at-creation-time cost and associated restore-it-fast-automatically costs..
Note that symbolic links (aka soft links) create a directory entry that contain the path to another directory entry. It doesn't point to an inode. So, this won't help you keep the file from disappearing.
Last edited by jp2542a; 09-18-2009 at 11:48 AM..
Reason: clarification
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LEARN ABOUT ULTRIX
symlink
symlink(2) System Calls Manual symlink(2)
Name
symlink - make symbolic link to a file
Syntax
symlink(name1, name2)
char *name1, *name2;
Description
A symbolic link name2 is created to name1 (name2 is the name of the file created, name1 is the string used in creating the symbolic link).
Either name can be an arbitrary path name. The files need not be on the same file system.
Return Values
Upon successful completion, a zero (0) value is returned. If an error occurs, the error code is stored in errno, and a -1 value is
returned.
Diagnostics
The symbolic link is made, unless one or more of the following are true:
[ENOTDIR] A component of the name2 prefix is not a directory.
[EEXIST] The name2 already exists.
[EACCES] A component of the name2 path prefix denies search permission.
[EROFS] The file name2 would reside on a read-only file system.
[EFAULT] The name1 or name2 points outside the process's allocated address space.
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
[ENAMETOOLONG] A component of either pathname exceeded MAXNAMELEN characters, or the entire length of either pathname exceeded MAXPATHNAME
characters.
[ENOENT] The named file does not exist.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while making the directory entry for name2, or allocating the inode for name2, or writing out the link
contents of name2.
[ENOSPC] The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link is being placed cannot be extended, because there is no space
left on the file system containing the directory.
[ENOSPC] The new symbolic link cannot be created, because there is no space left on the file system that will contain the symbolic
link.
[ENOSPC] There are no free inodes on the file system on which the symbolic link is being created.
[EDQUOT] The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link is being placed cannot be extended because the user's quota of
disk blocks on the file system containing the directory has been exhausted.
[EDQUOT] The new symbolic link cannot be created because the user's quota of disk blocks on the file system that will contain the
symbolic link has been exhausted.
[EDQUOT] The user's quota of inodes on the file system on which the user's symbolic link is being created has been exhausted.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while making the directory entry or allocating the inode.
[ETIMEDOUT] A connect request or remote file operation failed, because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of
time that is dependent on the communications protocol.
See Also
ln(1), link(2), readlink(2), stat(2), unlink(2)
symlink(2)