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(emacs)File Aliases

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File Name Aliases
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   Symbolic links and hard links both make it possible for several file
names to refer to the same file.  Hard links are alternate names that
refer directly to the file; all the names are equally valid, and no one
of them is preferred.  By contrast, a symbolic link is a kind of defined
alias: when `foo' is a symbolic link to `bar', you can use either name
to refer to the file, but `bar' is the real name, while `foo' is just
an alias.  More complex cases occur when symbolic links point to
directories.

   If you visit two names for the same file, normally Emacs makes two
different buffers, but it warns you about the situation.

   Normally, if you visit a file which Emacs is already visiting under
a different name, Emacs displays a message in the echo area and uses
the existing buffer visiting that file.  This can happen on systems
that support symbolic links, or if you use a long file name on a system
that truncates long file names.  You can suppress the message by
setting the variable `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' to a
non-`nil' value.  You can disable this feature entirely by setting the
variable `find-file-existing-other-name' to `nil': then if you visit
the same file under two different names, you get a separate buffer for
each file name.

   If the variable `find-file-visit-truename' is non-`nil', then the
file name recorded for a buffer is the file's "truename" (made by
replacing all symbolic links with their target names), rather than the
name you specify.  Setting `find-file-visit-truename' also implies the
effect of `find-file-existing-other-name'.