Topic : User Manual for TeraDesk Author : Wout Klaren, Henk Robbers, Djordje Vukovic Version : February 2017 Subject : Documentation/Utilities Nodes : 87 Index Size : 2746 HCP-Version : 3 Compiled on : Atari @charset : atarist @lang : en @default : Main @help : @options : -i -t4 +z @width : 75 View Ref-FileContents 6 Symbolic Links TeraDesk Symbolic links are special files which contain pointers to files or folders that may be located elsewhere on a disk drive. They are not supported by all versions of the operating system or the file system (i.e. MiNT or MagiC is needed in order to exploit symbolic links, because the standard GEMDOS does not support them). Symbolic links can be created by using the New... menu title in the File menu. If a single object is selected when this menu title is activated, a symbolic link to that object will be created in the top directory window. Symbolic links can be copied, moved or deleted just like normal files and folders. During these operations, only the links are copied or moved, not the actual objects they are referencing. This behaviour can be modified by setting 'Follow links' in The copy info dialog and in the Set desk icons... dialog. If any of these options is selected the operations are applied to the referenced objects, not to the links (except deleting, which removes both the referenced objects and the links). Note that when a link is deleted, the object it is referencing (the target) is NOT deleted. Users should beware that the 'Follow links' option is limited to objects directly selected in a directory window or on the desktop. Any links in the subdirectories of a selected object are manipulated as links (that is, they are never followed to the referenced objects); Othwerwise, uncontrolled file operations and endless recursions might occur. If a directory window is opened from a link in a directory window, path of the opened window will be a continuation of the path of the directory where the link is. However, if the left [Shift] key is kept pressed while opening the link, the path of the opened window will be that of the actual opened directory. Information on symbolic links can be found through the Info... dialog. It will permit renaming of the link, or changing of the path to the object it is referencing. (Changing the path to the target object in fact amounts to deleting the link and creating a new one). When an object which is a symbolic link is 'opened', the path to the referenced object is followed to establish what type of object it is (file, folder or program). The appropriate action is then taken. When an object which is a link is passed as an argument to a program, the path to the referenced object is followed so that the real object name will always be passed. Note that in the current version of TeraDesk this may not always work consistently, e.g. if an object is opened in a folder which is open in an object which is a link to a folder, the real path will not be passed. Have also in mind that, generally, Tera Desktop may in some cases become confused by symbolic links referencing symbolic links. The creation and manipulation of such objects should be avoided. When a symbolic link contains only the name of the referenced object, TeraDesk will supply the path of the link itself (and append the name of the referenced object). Symbolic links to network objects such as web pages and ftp sites can be created. For the time being, this cannot be done directly; instead, a sybolic link to an existing file should be created, and then modified so as to point to a network object like e.g. a web page. Referenced objects should have names beginning with one of the following prefixes: http:, https:, ftp: or mailto: (case insensitive).