Python file name from inode?

Question

I am converting files from an old application to OS X. For reasons that must have been good at the time, it writes related files to its database using inode numbers. (I think Apple calls it FileID.)

Given the file name, I can find the inode in Python using os.stat (). But is there a Python way to find the name with the inode number?

Otherwise, I can think of two other ways:

• Scan all files in a folder to collect all their inode numbers and save them in a dictionary for quick reference.

• Use os.system ('find / folder / folder -inum 1234') and parse the output for what I need. I believe that this does the same as above, but is performed by the operating system.

I would prefer my own Python solution, but would be grateful for any other suggestions.

This will be Python2 on OS X 10.5 or 6.

Answer 1

There are volfs OSX, but it can actually be slower than your approach 1.

Therefore, I would use your approach 1., but given some important bits:

• inode can point to multiple files (hardlinks).
• You need to make sure that it is still the same device.

Your 2. approach is basically the same as the first, with the exception of the extra forking overhead and, more importantly, basically repeating the same expensive listing over and over, instead of filling out the card once.

Answer 2

It looks like you have to run the bruteforce command . File names point to inodes. Indexes themselves do not contain a link to the file name. You can also have multiple hard links (locations on the file system or file names) pointing to the same index.

You can see the inode structure elements on this page. The file name does not exist.