Finding the Link, the Hard Link

[Will H. Backman]

David Walker wrote:
> OK, sorry for the sappy subject but oh well.
> 
> So I am having a question and problem.  What I am doing is writing a 
> script to parse over 2 loop file systems, and check for changes.  
> Simple, no?  Well I thought so until I ran into the HardLink.  This 
> would be able to be ignored and just put 2 copies of the file in the 
> loop filesystem, however we are pressed for space and every 4k matters.  
> So I ask, is there a way to tell the difference between the real file, 
> and a hard link?
> 
> eg.
> /etc/passwd and /etc/passwd.hl
> 
> The .hl was made with ln, now how can I tell that it is, or was made 
> with ln, a hard link?
> 
> -- 
> Dave
> 

As far as I know, every regular file is a hard link.  Creating a new 
hard link to the inode doesn't increase the size on disk.