.\"
.\" $Id: namespace.5,v 1.1 1999/02/13 19:56:16 gdr-ftp Exp $
.\"
.TH NAMESPACE 5 "7 February 1999" GNO "File Formats"
.SH NAME
.BR namespace
\- map GS/OS partitions to GNO mount points
.SH SYNOPSIS
/etc/namespace
.SH DESCRIPTION
The 
.BR namespace
file is parsed by the GNO kernel when the kernel is booting.  The mappings
in this file allow the kernel to provide a continguous hierarchy of 
directories without requiring those directories to be on the same physical
disk partition.  This is similar to the UNIX concept of mount points.
.LP
The format of the
.BR namespace 
file is:
.nf

	:mountpoint	:path:to:real:directory

.fi
Comments are not currently allowed in the file.
It is critical that only colons be used as pathname delimiters in this
file, and that no trailing colons are specified.
.SH EXAMPLE
In this abbreviated example, the /usr directory hierarchy exists on a
different physical partition than do /bin and /dev:
.nf
	:bin	:disk1:bin
	:dev	:disk1:dev
	:usr	:disk2:moreGNOstuff:usr
.fi
.SH BUGS
There is currently a limit of about 20 entries in the 
.BR namespace
file.
.LP
Whitespace can appear in the names of neither the mount point nor the
directory being mounted.
.LP
Only a single directory component can be specified for the mount point.
Therefore, the following would be an illegal entry:
.nf
	:usr:local	:disk3:local
.fi
.LP
One would expect that files existing in the same directory as the GNO
kernel binary could be referenced relative to the root partition (for
example, referencing the 
.BR initrc
file as
.BR /initrc ).
This is not permitted; such a reference will cause the relevent system
call to fail with ENOENT.
Similarily, one cannot refer to the directory in which the kernel resides as
.BR / ).
.LP
The specified mount points cannot currently be used as home directories.
For example, root's home directory cannot be /root, where /root is defined
in /etc/namespace as:
.nf
        :root   :hd3:root
.fi
.SH HISTORY
The 
.BR namespace
facility first appeared in GNO v2.0.