> Let me rephrase my question a little bit: BESIDES the obvious usage of > "." entry, in terms of the filesystem, what is the purpose of "." entry? > > The obvious answer is that you can refer to the current directory using > "./", however, in order to look up the "." entry, the kernel must have a > knowledge of the current directory in the first place, doesn't it? The > kernel needs the directory table for the current directory to look up > which inode the "." entry refers to. Doesn't that seem a little > redundant, since the kernel already knows what the current directory is? > If the kernel is already caching the current directory table, it might > as well just cache the current directory's inode. I think you touched the point. There MIGHT be a situation in which you don't have the inode of the current directory, just the table, and you want to access the inode. Tomas > > Coming back to my original question, does the kernel really need that > "." entry? or is it purely for the user convenience? > > cheers, > > jz > > > -- > Kernelnewbies: Help each other learn about the Linux kernel. > Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/kernelnewbies/ > FAQ: http://kernelnewbies.org/faq/ -- "No Software Patents!" -- Allowing patents over software ideas will seriously affect the Creativity, Productivity and Freedom of all. Link: http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ -- Defend your freedom by signing a petition. Link: http://petition.eurolinux.org/index_html?LANG=en -- Kernelnewbies: Help each other learn about the Linux kernel. Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/kernelnewbies/ FAQ: http://kernelnewbies.org/faq/
