> the syscall was originally called unwhiteout.  kirk changed it to
> undelete, with the intention that the semantics be extended to
> include really undeleting a file (eg using a versioning or
> journal-based filesystem).

But it doesn't do even that now.

> it seems to be that the name undelete is ok.  would you have both a
> file available for undeletion, and a whiteout in existence at the
> same time?

You certainly could.  It might even happen relatively often.  As
someone else already noted, if you modify a file, you then have the RO
copy in the lower layer and the new copy in the upper layer.  If you
then rm it, the upper-layer copy is blown away and a whiteout created.
Then when you unwhiteout() it, the lower-layer file reappears.  I would
expect undelete() to resurrect the upper-layer copy - ie, what was
there before the unlink().

					der Mouse

			    mouse@collatz.mcrcim.mcgill.edu