On Sat, Aug 02, 2014 at 01:39:17PM -0400, Jan Harkes wrote:
> If you'd looked further then you might have noticed that the server looks up first by name and then does a strtol or something and checks for the volume by number.

Jan,

I am well aware that volume numbers _are_ being used as the primary
means of referring to a volume.

I just want to get rid of the volume names _also_ being used and
looked up as an integral part of file access operations.

Such usage requires the presence of a corresponding reliable
"volume names to volume numerical ids mapping" service.

This service can be otherwise dropped, without losing any functionality.

Mapping between the numerical volume ids and the human-oriented volume
comments can be done at mountpoint creation/management time by separate
means (those means not being necessary for the regular file service).

As an example, in a very small installation even a _paper_ sheet with
"ToMountOn                     volume#
 home        personal areas    1
 home/bob    my home dir       2
 home/alice  wife home dir     6
 mail        mailboxes         4
 mail/bob    my mail           5
  ..."
could be sufficient. :)

I do not mind implementing better tools than a paper sheet, but it is
important to implement them separately.

(why? because separation of functionalities and of the corresponding
code yields simplification, clarity and flexibility)

Regards,
Rune