diff --git a/common/source/c/compile_linux_amd64.sh b/common/source/c/compile_linux_amd64.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..daaeae5788ce2753a1e6bcb7533f09ca1f93f2e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/c/compile_linux_amd64.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+
+gcc -shared -fPIC unixlink.c -o ../../../libraries/filelink/amd64-Linux/jlink.so
diff --git a/common/source/c/compile_linux_i386.sh b/common/source/c/compile_linux_i386.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ed19e175b686bf6e8d1c91064c28de0eb12886df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/c/compile_linux_i386.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+
+gcc -shared unixlink.c -I/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_13/include -I/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_13/include/linux -o ../../../libraries/filelink/i386-Linux/jlink.so
diff --git a/common/source/c/compile_macosx.sh b/common/source/c/compile_macosx.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b8a4feb326ec798432f2689742375facadd75ea5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/c/compile_macosx.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+
+gcc -bundle unixlink.c -I/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current/Headers -o "../../../libraries/filelink/i386-Mac OS X/jlink.so"
+
diff --git a/common/source/c/unixlink.c b/common/source/c/unixlink.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bbb3c031ee64f51f4a76eff8afa32c6c595d577e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/c/unixlink.c
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <jni.h>
+
+JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_ch_systemsx_cisd_common_utilities_FileLinkUtilities_hardlink
+ (JNIEnv *env, jclass clss, jstring filename, jstring linktarget)
+{
+ const char* pfilename;
+ const char* plinktarget;
+ jboolean isCopy;
+ int retval;
+
+ pfilename = (char *)(*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, filename, &isCopy);
+ plinktarget = (char *)(*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, linktarget, &isCopy);
+
+ retval = link(pfilename, plinktarget);
+ if (retval < 0)
+ {
+ retval = errno;
+ }
+
+ (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, filename, pfilename);
+ (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, linktarget, plinktarget);
+
+ return retval;
+}
+
+JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_ch_systemsx_cisd_common_utilities_FileLinkUtilities_symlink
+ (JNIEnv *env, jclass clss, jstring filename, jstring linktarget)
+{
+ const char* pfilename;
+ const char* plinktarget;
+ jboolean isCopy;
+ int retval;
+
+ pfilename = (char *)(*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, filename, &isCopy);
+ plinktarget = (char *)(*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, linktarget, &isCopy);
+
+ retval = symlink(pfilename, plinktarget);
+ if (retval < 0) {
+ retval = errno;
+ }
+
+ (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, filename, pfilename);
+ (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, linktarget, plinktarget);
+
+ return retval;
+}
+
+JNIEXPORT jstring JNICALL Java_ch_systemsx_cisd_common_utilities_FileLinkUtilities_strerror(JNIEnv *env, jclass clss, jint errnum)
+{
+ return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env, strerror(errnum));
+}
diff --git a/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/utilities/FileLinkUtilities.java b/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/utilities/FileLinkUtilities.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..de9f554cee33f039ddba27f87263fa93bd644e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/common/utilities/FileLinkUtilities.java
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2008 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.common.utilities;
+
+import java.io.File;
+
+/**
+ * A utility class that provides access to hard link and symbolic link creation on Unix platforms.
+ *
+ * @author Bernd Rinn
+ */
+public class FileLinkUtilities
+{
+
+ private static boolean operational = false;
+
+ static
+ {
+ final String filename =
+ FileUtilities.tryCopyResourceToTempFile("/" + OSUtilities.getComputerPlatform()
+ + "/jlink.so", "jlink", ".so");
+
+ if (filename != null)
+ {
+ final File linkLib = new File(filename);
+ if (linkLib.exists() && linkLib.canRead() && linkLib.isFile())
+ {
+ try
+ {
+ System.load(filename);
+ operational = true;
+ } catch (final Throwable err)
+ {
+ System.err.printf("Native Link library '%s' failed to load:\n", filename);
+ err.printStackTrace();
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ }
+
+ /** An exception that indicates that creating a link failed. */
+ public static final class FileLinkException extends RuntimeException
+ {
+ private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+ private FileLinkException(String type, String source, String target, String errorMessage)
+ {
+ super(String.format("Creating %s link '%s' -> '%s': %s", type, source, target,
+ errorMessage));
+ }
+ }
+
+ //
+ // The wrappers for the native function calls.
+ //
+
+ private static native int hardlink(String filename, String linktarget);
+
+ private static native int symlink(String filename, String linktarget);
+
+ private static native String strerror(int errnum);
+
+ /**
+ * Returns <code>true</code>, if the native library has been loaded successfully and the link
+ * utilities are operational, <code>false</code> otherwise.
+ */
+ public static final boolean isOperational()
+ {
+ return operational;
+ }
+
+ /**
+ * Creates a hard link from <var>filename</var> to <var>linktarget</var>.
+ *
+ * @throws FileLinkException If the underlying system call fails, e.g. because <var>filename</var>
+ * does not exist or because <var>linktarget</var> already exists.
+ */
+ public static final void createHardLink(String filename, String linktarget)
+ throws FileLinkException
+ {
+ final int result = hardlink(filename, linktarget);
+ if (result != 0)
+ {
+ throw new FileLinkException("hard", linktarget, filename, strerror(result));
+ }
+ }
+
+ /**
+ * Creates a symbolic link from <var>filename</var> to <var>linktarget</var>.
+ *
+ * @throws FileLinkException If the underlying system call fails, e.g. because <var>filename</var>
+ * does not exist or because <var>linktarget</var> already exists.
+ */
+ public static final void createSymbolicLink(String filename, String linktarget)
+ throws FileLinkException
+ {
+ final int result = symlink(filename, linktarget);
+ if (result != 0)
+ {
+ throw new FileLinkException("symbolic", linktarget, filename, strerror(result));
+ }
+ }
+
+}