Symbolic Link Service
Creating an Alias in Mac OS X is easy. Hold down the Option + Command keys and drag a file to some new location. Just like that you’ve got an Alias, which is, essentially, a pointer to the original file. The truth is, however, I’ve never had much use for Alias files. Symbolic Links, however, are a whole different kettle of fish.
Symbolic links are a feature of HFS+ and UFS file systems. They allow allow multiple references to files and folders without requiring multiple copies of these items. What this means is that you can relocate a library file from some application required location to somewhere else, like Dropbox, and your applications will be none the wiser. I use this trick to keep my Bento (which mandates its data file be located in the Application Support folder) to Dropbox so I can access my Dropbox data from multiple Macs.
The trouble is, creating symbolic links is a pain, requiring several terminal incantations. Not anymore. Mac OSX Hints has an ingenious Service using a bit of bash code to create your own symbolic link service. Check it out.
Reader Comments (3)
The fantastic programs LaunchBar and Path Finder also easily create symbolic links.
Actually, symbolic links do *not* allow you to "relocate" a library and its dangerous to have people think it does.
What they do is let you have a "soft-pointer" in place B that references content in place A.
People reading this article might think they can create a symbolic link to a file, then delete the original. They will find out fairly quickly that they have screwed the pooch.
So I about to download and get the Service installed, but am unclear on how to use it. I can right-click a file and see Create Symbolic, but then it is not clear how to get the link to the folder where I want it. - Freddie