Path names are resolved using a distributed protocol.
No single entity is responsible for the resolution of
path names. A file system server (a translator)
attaches to translators (
When a process resolves an absolute path, it queries
its root file system server by invoking the
method in the capability in its root directory slot. The
file system server resolves as much as it knows about locally
and when it encounters a translator, it replies to the client
indicating how much it resolved and where to continue its
lookup. This continues until the name is fully resolved
or an error occurs. The same happens for relative path
names but a different capability is used.
For a more detailed explanation of the protocol, look at the section 2.2 of the critique.