[unix-history] / man / man1 / ln.1

.th LN I 3/15/72
.sh NAME
ln  \*-  make a link
.sh SYNOPSIS
.bd ln
name1 [ name2 ]
.sh DESCRIPTION
A link is a directory entry referring
to a file; the same file (together with
its size, all its protection
information, etc)
may have several links to it.
There is no way to distinguish a link to a file
from its original directory entry;
any changes in the
file are effective
independently of the name by which the file is known.
.s3
.it Ln
creates a link to an existing file
.it name1.
If
.it name2
is given, the link has that name;
otherwise it is placed in the current directory
and its name is the last component
of
.it name1.
.s3
It is forbidden to link to a directory
or to link across file systems.
.sh "SEE ALSO"
rm(I)
.sh BUGS
There is nothing particularly
wrong with
.it ln,
but
.it tp
doesn't understand about links and makes one copy for
each name by which a file is known;
thus if the tape is extracted
several copies are restored and the information that links were involved
is lost.
Commit	Line	Data
8980fb0b KT	1	.th LN I 3/15/72
	2	.sh NAME
	3	ln \*- make a link
	4	.sh SYNOPSIS
	5	.bd ln
	6	name1 [ name2 ]
	7	.sh DESCRIPTION
	8	A link is a directory entry referring
	9	to a file; the same file (together with
	10	its size, all its protection
	11	information, etc)
	12	may have several links to it.
	13	There is no way to distinguish a link to a file
	14	from its original directory entry;
	15	any changes in the
	16	file are effective
	17	independently of the name by which the file is known.
	18	.s3
	19	.it Ln
	20	creates a link to an existing file
	21	.it name1.
	22	If
	23	.it name2
	24	is given, the link has that name;
	25	otherwise it is placed in the current directory
	26	and its name is the last component
	27	of
	28	.it name1.
	29	.s3
	30	It is forbidden to link to a directory
	31	or to link across file systems.
	32	.sh "SEE ALSO"
	33	rm(I)
	34	.sh BUGS
	35	There is nothing particularly
	36	wrong with
	37	.it ln,
	38	but
	39	.it tp
	40	doesn't understand about links and makes one copy for
	41	each name by which a file is known;
	42	thus if the tape is extracted
	43	several copies are restored and the information that links were involved
	44	is lost.