This version of this document is no longer maintained. For the latest documentation, see http://www.qnx.com/developers/docs.

`zap`

Destroy a damaged file (QNX)

Syntax:

zap [-pv] file
zap [-pv] [-l|-u] directory

Options:

-l: ("el") List previously zapped files in the directory.
-p: Pause before starting (for floppy disks).
-u: "Unzap" files in the directory.
-v: Be verbose; report results.
file: The name of the file to remove.
directory: The name of the directory containing previously zapped files.

Description:

You should use zap to remove a file if:

you know that the file contains bad disk blocks
Or:
chkfsys has instructed you to use zap on it.

The zap utility releases a file by clearing the directory entry for that file. The disk blocks used by the file aren't reclaimed. Therefore, if you use zap repeatedly, you'll reduce the total number of disk blocks available on the disk. You can reclaim these, however, by running chkfsys when the system is idle.

Normally, you should use the rm or rmdir commands to release files or directories.

Previously zapped files may be listed in any specified directory using the -l option.

You can "unzap" or recover zapped files by using the -u option. The utility prompts for each file that was zapped in the specified directory.

The file to be "unzapped" must have been initially removed via a zap command. Files removed conventionally via rm or any other process which calls unlink() can't be restored by means of the zap -u command.

Examples:

Eliminate the directory entry for the file junk:

zap junk

Exit status:

0: Success.
>0: An error occurred.

Caveats:

To run zap you must have read and write permission for the block special file for the filesystem containing the file being zapped. You must also have execute permission for the zap utility. In a normally configured system this means you must be root to run zap.