The Prospero file system is presently implemented as a library. We provide versions of cat and ls which have been linked with the Prospero compatability library, which is an additional wrapper around the main Prospero library. The relinked versions may be found in the same directory as the other Prospero binaries, and will appear in your search path once the vfsetup command has been executed.
If the venable command (see section 8.1) has been executed to set the default name resolution mechanisms to the virtual file system, then the cd command may be used to change virtual directories.
If the venable command (see section 8.1) has been executed to set the default name resolution mechanisms to the virtual file system, then the ls command may be used to list virtual directories.
By default, names which are to be resolved using Prospero must contain or be preceded by a colon (:). File names that do not contain and are not preceded by a colon are treated as native Unix file names. The default behavior can be modified by setting the PFS_DEFAULT environment variable. This may be done by using the venable command. When enabled, names are resolved relative to the active virtual system by default. Names that are to be treated as native Unix file names must be preceded by an atsign (@). vdisable will return the default to its original state. The meanings of the values for the PFS_DEFAULT environment variable are listed in Table 2.
Table: Settings for the PFS_DEFAULT environment
variable