“namei” (7518) converts a pathname into an “inode” pointer. “uchar” is the name of a procedure which recovers the pathname, character by character, from the user program data area;
A null “inode” pointer indicates either an error or that no file of that name already exists;
For error conditions, see “CREAT (II)” in the UPM;
“maknode” (7455) creates a core “inode” via a call on “ialloc” and then initialises it and enters it into the appropriate directory. Note the explicit resetting of the “sticky” bit