Let's say I have a file named "ABC.pdf". I create an alias, which by default is named "ABC.pdf alias".
Questions:
1. If I change the name of the alias to "XYZ.pdf alias" (nothing else has that name), will it still point to ABC.pdf?
Yes.
2. If I change the name of ABC.pdf to XYZ.pdf and keep the alias as "ABC.pdf alias", will it still point to the newly named XYZ.pdf?
Yes,
if XYZ.pdf lives on a Mac-formatted local disk.
Maybe, if XYZ.pdf lives on a file server.
No, if XYZ.pdf lives on a Windows-formatted local disk.
The Mac uses several different techniques to point the alias to the file. It records both a unique ID of the file and also the path to the file. The unique ID of the file relies on the disk being Mac-formatted.
If the disk isn't Mac-formatted, it falls back to the path, Changing the name of the file breaks the path.
If the file lives on a server, it gets complicated, and it depends on a lot of factors, including the server protocol and mount point.
