[comp.sys.amiga] .info files and workbench

bobb@tekfdi.UUCP (01/01/70)

In article <383@io.UUCP> carlos@zapp.UUCP (Carlos Smith) writes:

>When I say I tried to delete the file, I typed into a cli "delete
>badfilename".

>I am replying here rather than privately to make clear that situations like
>this can and do occur in the filesystem, and there should be a utility to
>correct it. Fin.

I've never had this problem, but I wonder. . . . Would copying a junk file to
"badfilename" and then deleting it do the trick?

   Bob Bales
   Tektronix, Inc.

I help Tektronix make their instruments. They don't help me make my opinions.

jesup@mizar.steinmetz (Randell Jesup) (09/16/87)

In article <381@io.UUCP> carlos@chip.UUCP (Carlos Smith) writes:
>In article <7325@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> jesup@mizar.steinmetz.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>..	[describes not being able to delete a directory because a file
>..	 exists, but go to delete file and "error 205 - file not found"]
>.Aha!  What you had was a xxxxx.info (xxxx is the name displayed) file (an
>.icon) with no associated file.  When you tell it to delete it, it can't find
>.the regular file (it doesn't exist).
...
>I appreciate the comment, and I could see where this could happen and cause
>great confusion. However, in my case the directory was empty, there were NO
>other files around except (or not even?!?) the file the directory thought was
>there but wasn't (or wasn't there, but was, or was it wasn't was it?).
>			Carlos Smith

There WAS 1 file there, a icon file.  The Amiga uses a seperate file to store
icons, they are NOT part of the directory or file they are the icon for.
When Workbench displays a drawer (directory), it just searchs the directory
for files that end in '.info'.  These file contain icons for other files in the
directory usually, but not always.  Now, when you attempt to remove a file
or directory FROM WORKBENCH, it looks for the file that goes with the icon,
then deletes them both.  What happened to you was that the file associated
with the icon didn't exist, and workbench gave up with an error message
(similar for moving it somewhere else).  If you did a list or dir on the
directory from cli, there would have been a file there, I assure you.

Now the reason I'm following this up, not mailing.  This behavior is confusing
to novice workbench users, and something should be done for 1.3 or whatever.
Either a better error message, or allow the icon alone to be deleted, or
something.  Actually, I still feel icons should NOT be seperate files, and
should be part of the directory, or the file, or one file in the directory.

P.S.  Carlos:  Try cutting down included material a little bit more for
your responses.
--


	Randell Jesup  (Please use one of these paths for mail)
	mizar!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP (uunet!steinmetz!{mizar|crd}!jesup)
	jesup@ge-crd.ARPA

carlos@io.UUCP (09/17/87)

In article <7380@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> jesup@mizar.steinmetz.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>In article <381@io.UUCP> carlos@chip.UUCP (Carlos Smith) writes:
>>..	[describes not being able to delete a directory because a file
>>..	 exists, but go to delete file and "error 205 - file not found"]
>There WAS 1 file there, a icon file.  The Amiga uses a seperate file to store
>icons, they are NOT part of the directory or file they are the icon for.
> If you did a list or dir on the
>directory from cli, there would have been a file there, I assure you.
>	Randell Jesup  (Please use one of these paths for mail)

I beg your pardon. There WAS NO FILE in the directory. I am not an idiot, I
would not go and reformat (and reload) a hard disk without checking all of the
possibilities. The initial delete failed on a workbench operation, all 
subsequent attempts to resolve it were done through the CLI, and with a 'C'
program. When I say I tried to delete the file, I typed into a cli "delete
badfilename". No longer anything to do with workbench. For that matter, the
file in question never did have an icon associated with it. 

I am replying here rather than privately to make clear that situations like
this can and do occur in the filesystem, and there should be a utility to
correct it. Fin.

-- 
			Carlos Smith
			uucp:...!harvard!umb!ileaf!carlos
			Bix:	carlosmith

carlos@io.UUCP (09/19/87)

In article <1308@tekfdi.TEK.COM> bobb@tekfdi.UUCP (Robert Bales) writes:
>In article <383@io.UUCP> carlos@zapp.UUCP (Carlos Smith) writes:
>>>When I say I tried to delete the file, I typed into a cli "delete
>>badfilename".
>
>I've never had this problem, but I wonder. . . . Would copying a junk file to
>"badfilename" and then deleting it do the trick?
>   Bob Bales

Now there is an interesting idea! I wish I had thought of it... It would 
either work, or not. But seriously, I guess it might complain when it went to 
unlink the old file, but it might have gone ahead and completed the operation.
A copy/append might also have worked. 

Boy, I can't wait till it happens again, I have so many things to try this
time! I'll try to install Marble Madness on my hard disk again. It worked last
time...
-- 
			Carlos Smith
			uucp:...!harvard!umb!ileaf!carlos
			Bix:	carlosmith