Open System Services System Calls Reference Manual (G06.25+, H06.03+)

Miscellaneous filename(5)
qualifier Specifies a unique identifier significant to the device. A qualifier is a character
string of two to eight valid characters. The first character must be a number sign
(#). Valid characters for the rest of the string are the letters a through z, and the
digits 0 through 9. (Uppercase letters A through Z are accepted but converted to
lowercase letters.) The second character must be a letter.
DESCRIPTION
This reference page describes file-naming rules. There is a separate set of naming rules for the
file system in each environment:
• Rules for OSS files
• Rules for Guardian files
There are also rules used to translate a name used in one environment to a name valid for the
opposite environment.
OSS Filenames
In the OSS environment, the term "filename" refers to a component of a pathname that contains
any characters other than a slash (/) character or a null character.
The hyphen (-) should not be the first character of an OSS filename if shell commands or utilities
will be used on the file. The colon (:) should not be a character in an OSS filename if shell com-
mands or utilities will be used on the file.
The OSS file system does not require filename characters to conform to POSIX.1 and ISO C stan-
dards for portable filenames. However, the use of portable filenames is strongly recommended.
Valid characters for a portable filename are the letters A through Z, the letters a through z, the
digits 0 through 9, and the graphic symbols for period, underscore (_), and hyphen (-). The
hyphen cannot be the first character of a portable filename.
Guardian Filenames
In the Guardian environment, the term "filename" refers to the set of information that uniquely
identifies a Guardian object. A Guardian filename can contain the following characters:
• The letters A through Z (lowercase letters are automatically translated to uppercase and
do not appear in the Guardian file system)
• The digits 0 through 9
• The graphic symbols for backslash (\), number sign (#), colon (:), period, and dollar sign
($)
A Guardian filename is approximately equivalent to an OSS pathname; Guardian disk files
appear in the /G directory with pathnames that have been mapped to OSS filenames.
Guardian objects with Guardian filenames include:
• Disk files
• Temporary disk files
• Nondisk devices
• Named processes
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