Warn about and skip non-regular and .zfs operands, keeping their records (closes #9)

A symlink, socket, FIFO or device-node operand, or a directory operand
named .zfs, was silently ignored yet stayed in the scanned operands, so
the update phase deleted every record stored beneath it. Such an
operand now gets a one-line warning, counts as skipped, and is dropped
before overlapping operands are pruned and the database index is
loaded: another operand beneath it is still scanned, and the records
beneath it count as outside the scanned operands and are not deleted,
unless it lies under another operand. The exit status stays 0. An
operand that turns into one of these after that check is warned about
and skipped by the walk instead. README "scan mode" and "Rules for the
walk" say so.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -113,9 +113,8 @@ Goals, in order:
     `sfdupes`.
 -   Dependencies: standard library, `github.com/spf13/cobra` for the
     CLI, **one progress-bar library**
-    (`github.com/schollz/progressbar/v3`), **one SQLite driver**
-    (`modernc.org/sqlite`, pure Go, so builds keep cgo disabled), and
-    `golang.org/x/sys` for `flock(2)` (the scan lock, see "Database").
+    (`github.com/schollz/progressbar/v3`), and **one SQLite driver**
+    (`modernc.org/sqlite`, pure Go, so builds keep cgo disabled).
     `github.com/spf13/viper` is permitted if configuration-file support
     is ever needed, but is not currently used. No other third-party
     deps.
@@ -153,20 +152,6 @@ All three subcommands operate on a single SQLite database file:
     use. `report` and `trees` require an existing database; a missing
     database file is a fatal error (exit 1) telling the user to run
     `scan` first.
--   Only one `scan` runs against a database at a time. For its whole
-    run, `scan` holds an exclusive `flock(2)` lock on a lock file
-    beside the database, named by appending `.lock` to the database
-    path (`/var/lib/sfdupes/db.sqlite.lock` by default), taken before
-    it walks the filesystem or opens the database. A second `scan`
-    against the same database does not wait: it fails at once with a
-    one-line error naming the lock file and exits 1, without walking
-    anything or opening the database, and the running scan carries on.
-    The lock file is created on first use, open to its owner only, and
-    left in place: a leftover file blocks nothing, because the lock
-    ends with the process holding it however it ends, a fatal error or
-    an interrupt included, and deleting the file while a scan runs
-    would let a second scan start. `report` and `trees` never take the
-    lock, so they run during a scan.
 -   While `scan` runs, the database is in WAL journal mode with a busy
     timeout, so running a report while a cron `scan` is in progress is
     safe. The filesystem is authoritative; the database is an
@@ -278,6 +263,18 @@ duplicates another or lies under another is dropped before walking,
 so every file is reached exactly once and produces one database
 record.
 
+An operand that is a symlink (never followed, not even as an operand),
+socket, FIFO, or device node, or a directory named `.zfs`, is not
+scanned. `scan` prints a one-line warning naming the path and what it
+is, counts it as skipped, and drops it from the scanned operands before
+reading the database. Another operand beneath it is still scanned. The
+records stored beneath it are not deleted: they are treated like any
+other record outside the scanned operands, including the content-phase
+exception below. If it lies under another operand, they are under that
+operand instead, and are deleted like any other record there that this
+scan did not verify. This is not an error: a scan whose every operand
+is dropped walks nothing and exits 0.
+
 `scan` synchronizes the database with the filesystem state under the
 scanned operands:
 
@@ -383,9 +380,12 @@ during the hash phase:
 Rules for the walk:
 
 -   Only regular files. Skip directories, symlinks (do not follow,
-    including symlink operands), sockets, FIFOs, and device nodes.
+    including symlink operands), sockets, FIFOs, and device nodes. An
+    operand that is a symlink, socket, FIFO, or device node is dropped
+    as described in "`scan` mode" above.
 -   Never descend into a directory named `.zfs` (ZFS snapshot pseudo-dirs;
-    walking them would list every file once per snapshot).
+    walking them would list every file once per snapshot), not even
+    when it is an operand; such an operand is dropped the same way.
 -   Filesystem boundaries are crossed by default. With `-x`
     (long form `--one-file-system`, following the GNU `du`/`rsync`
     convention), never descend into a directory on a different
@@ -396,9 +396,11 @@ Rules for the walk:
     path, and continue. Per-file errors never abort the run; the final
     summary reports how many were skipped. As specified above, a
     skipped path that has a database record from an earlier scan loses
-    that record, unless it failed only in the content phase; an
-    unreadable directory subtree likewise loses its records (accepted:
-    the database mirrors what the latest scan could actually verify).
+    that record, unless it failed only in the content phase, or is an
+    operand dropped before the database was read that lies under no
+    other operand; an unreadable directory subtree likewise loses its
+    records (accepted: the database mirrors what the latest scan could
+    actually verify).
 
 Concurrency: the walk phase (which also stats files), the hash phase,
 and the content phase each use a worker pool of `--workers` workers
@@ -582,10 +584,9 @@ Additional requirements:
 ### Error handling and exit codes
 
 -   `0`: success, even if individual files were skipped with warnings.
--   `1`: fatal error (e.g., a `PATH` operand does not exist, another
-    `scan` is already running against the same database, the database
-    cannot be created/opened/read/written, a missing database for
-    `report`/`trees`, stdout write failure).
+-   `1`: fatal error (e.g., a `PATH` operand does not exist, the
+    database cannot be created/opened/read/written, a missing database
+    for `report`/`trees`, stdout write failure).
 -   `2`: usage error (including `scan` with no `PATH` operand and
     `report`/`trees` with any positional argument).
 
@@ -738,7 +739,7 @@ All of the following, run in this directory, must pass:
 
     ```sh
     d=$(mktemp -d)
-    export SFDUPES_DATABASE="$(mktemp -d)/db.sqlite"
+    export SFDUPES_DATABASE="$d/db.sqlite"
     mkdir -p "$d/a" "$d/b"
     head -c 2000 /dev/urandom > "$d/a/one.bin"
     cp "$d/a/one.bin" "$d/b/copy.bin"
@@ -766,9 +767,9 @@ All of the following, run in this directory, must pass:
     ./sfdupes report
     ```
 
-    (The database lives in a temp directory of its own: inside `$d`,
-    the scan would record it, and its empty lock file would join the
-    `empty1`/`empty2` group.)
+    (The scan database lives inside `$d` here purely for test hygiene;
+    scanning `$d` therefore also records the SQLite file itself, which
+    is harmless.)
 
     Expected from the first `report`: `one.bin`/`copy.bin`/`copy2.bin`
     form one group (two dupe rows, `first` is the lexicographically

TODO.md

@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@
 
 # Completed Steps
 
-- `scan` holds a lock on a lock file beside the database for its whole run,
-  so a second `scan` fails at once with exit 1 (2026-10-03,
-  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/53)
+- warn about and skip symlink, socket, FIFO, device and `.zfs`
+  operands, keeping the records beneath them (2026-10-03,
+  https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/sfdupes/issues/9)
 
 - test stdout write failures in `report` and `trees`; README states that
   `| head` ends sfdupes by `SIGPIPE` and `>&-` writes to `/dev/null`

db.go

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 
-	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 	// The pure-Go SQLite driver, registered as "sqlite"; keeps cgo
 	// disabled.
 	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
@@ -33,11 +32,6 @@ const schemaVersion = 1
 // scan.
 const dbDirPerm = 0o755
 
-// lockFilePerm is the mode for the scan lock file. Anyone who can open
-// the file can hold the lock and keep every scan from running, so it
-// is open to its owner only.
-const lockFilePerm = 0o600
-
 // createTableSQL is the schema applied to a fresh database. Paths are
 // BLOBs because Unix paths are raw bytes, not guaranteed UTF-8.
 const createTableSQL = `
@@ -70,10 +64,6 @@ var errNoDatabase = errors.New(
 // does not understand.
 var errSchemaVersion = errors.New("unsupported database schema version")
 
-// errScanRunning reports that another scan holds the lock on the
-// database.
-var errScanRunning = errors.New("another scan is running")
-
 // databasePath resolves the database location: SFDUPES_DATABASE when
 // set and non-empty, the compiled-in default otherwise.
 func databasePath() string {
@@ -114,43 +104,6 @@ func openDB(path, params string) (*sql.DB, error) {
 	return db, nil
 }
 
-// lockScanDatabase takes the lock that keeps a second scan off the
-// database at path: an exclusive flock(2) on the file beside it named
-// path with ".lock" appended, created along with the database's parent
-// directory if missing. A lock held by another scan fails at once
-// instead of waiting. The lock lasts until the returned file is closed
-// or the process ends. The file is never deleted: a scan that deleted
-// it would let the next scan lock a new file while another still holds
-// the old one.
-func lockScanDatabase(path string) (*os.File, error) {
-	err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), dbDirPerm)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("create database directory: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	lockPath := path + ".lock"
-
-	//nolint:gosec // the operator chooses the database path
-	f, err := os.OpenFile(lockPath, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, lockFilePerm)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	err = unix.Flock(int(f.Fd()), unix.LOCK_EX|unix.LOCK_NB)
-	if err != nil {
-		_ = f.Close()
-
-		if errors.Is(err, unix.EWOULDBLOCK) {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w (lock held on %s)",
-				errScanRunning, lockPath)
-		}
-
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("lock %s: %w", lockPath, err)
-	}
-
-	return f, nil
-}
-
 // openScanDatabase opens the database for the scan subcommand, creating
 // the file, its parent directory, and the schema as needed.
 func openScanDatabase(ctx context.Context, path string) (*sql.DB, error) {

go.mod

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ go 1.25.7
 require (
 	github.com/schollz/progressbar/v3 v3.19.1
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.46.0
 	modernc.org/sqlite v1.54.0
 )
 
@@ -19,6 +18,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec // indirect
 	github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.4.7 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.46.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.44.0 // indirect
 	modernc.org/libc v1.74.1 // indirect
 	modernc.org/mathutil v1.7.1 // indirect

main_test.go

@@ -82,6 +82,50 @@ func makeReadOnly(t *testing.T, path string) {
 	})
 }
 
+// captureStderr redirects os.Stderr to a file for the rest of the test
+// and returns a function reading back everything written to it. scan
+// writes its warnings and summary straight to os.Stderr, not to the
+// stderr writer run is given.
+func captureStderr(t *testing.T) func() string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	f, err := os.Create(filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "stderr"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	saved := os.Stderr
+	os.Stderr = f
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		os.Stderr = saved
+
+		_ = f.Close()
+	})
+
+	return func() string {
+		// Read what has been written without disturbing the write
+		// offset, so the capture can be inspected more than once.
+		size, err := f.Seek(0, io.SeekCurrent)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if size == 0 {
+			return ""
+		}
+
+		b := make([]byte, size)
+
+		_, err = f.ReadAt(b, 0)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		return string(b)
+	}
+}
+
 // brokenDatabase writes a database that opens cleanly and passes the
 // schema-version check but has no files table, so the first query
 // fails with the database already open: a fatal error on a path that
@@ -306,19 +350,31 @@ func scanFixture(t *testing.T) []string {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+	scanOK(t, dir)
 
-	code := run([]string{cmdScan, dir}, &stdout, &stderr)
+	return dupes
+}
+
+// scanOK runs scan over operands, fails the test unless it exits 0 with
+// nothing on stdout, and returns everything it printed to stderr.
+func scanOK(t *testing.T, operands ...string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	var stdout bytes.Buffer
+
+	stderr := captureStderr(t)
+
+	code := run(append([]string{cmdScan}, operands...), &stdout, os.Stderr)
 	if code != exitOK {
-		t.Fatalf("run(scan) = %d, want %d; stderr: %s",
-			code, exitOK, stderr.String())
+		t.Fatalf("run(scan %q) = %d, want %d; stderr: %s",
+			operands, code, exitOK, stderr())
 	}
 
 	if got := stdout.String(); got != "" {
 		t.Errorf("scan stdout = %q, want nothing (data only)", got)
 	}
 
-	return dupes
+	return stderr()
 }
 
 func TestRunScanSucceedsDespiteWarnings(t *testing.T) {
@@ -329,6 +385,103 @@ func TestRunScanSucceedsDespiteWarnings(t *testing.T) {
 	assertNoSidecars(t, path)
 }
 
+func TestRunScanSkipsSymlinkOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	path := testDBPath(t)
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	writeFile(t, dir, "target/sub/f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	link := filepath.Join(dir, "link")
+
+	err := os.Symlink(filepath.Join(dir, "target"), link)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// Scanning a directory through the symlink stores a record beneath
+	// the symlink's own path for a file beneath its target.
+	scanOK(t, filepath.Join(link, "sub"))
+
+	assertOperandSkipped(t, path, link, "symlink",
+		filepath.Join(link, "sub", "f"))
+}
+
+func TestRunScanWalksOperandUnderSymlinkOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	path := testDBPath(t)
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	writeFile(t, dir, "target/sub/f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	link := filepath.Join(dir, "link")
+
+	err := os.Symlink(filepath.Join(dir, "target"), link)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// link is dropped as a symlink, but link/sub must still be scanned,
+	// not dropped as lying under link.
+	scanOK(t, link, filepath.Join(link, "sub"))
+
+	db, err := openDB(path, reportParams)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = db.Close() })
+
+	recordByPath(t, dbRecords(t, db), filepath.Join(link, "sub", "f"))
+}
+
+func TestRunScanSkipsZFSOperand(t *testing.T) {
+	path := testDBPath(t)
+	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
+
+	zfs := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), ".zfs")
+	snapshot := filepath.Join(zfs, "snapshot", "hourly")
+	f := writeFile(t, snapshot, "f", pattern(1, 10))
+
+	// An operand beneath a .zfs directory is walked, because it is not
+	// itself named .zfs.
+	scanOK(t, snapshot)
+
+	assertOperandSkipped(t, path, zfs, ".zfs directory", f)
+}
+
+// assertOperandSkipped scans operand alone and checks that it is skipped
+// as kind: a warning naming it, one skip in the summary, exit 0, and the
+// record for kept, which an earlier scan stored beneath operand, still
+// in the database at dbPath.
+func assertOperandSkipped(t *testing.T, dbPath, operand, kind,
+	kept string,
+) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	stderr := scanOK(t, operand)
+
+	warning := "walk " + operand + ": skipping " + kind + " operand\n"
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr, warning) {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want %q", stderr, warning)
+	}
+
+	summary := "scan: 0 files seen (0 added, 0 updated, 0 removed, " +
+		"0 unchanged), 1 skipped\n"
+	if !strings.Contains(stderr, summary) {
+		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want %q", stderr, summary)
+	}
+
+	db, err := openDB(dbPath, reportParams)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = db.Close() })
+
+	recordByPath(t, dbRecords(t, db), kept)
+}
+
 func TestRunReportSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
 	path := testDBPath(t)
 	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
@@ -412,95 +565,6 @@ func TestRunReportsNeedOnlyReadAccess(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// holdScanLock takes the lock on the database at path, as a running
-// scan does, and holds it until the test ends. It fails the test when
-// the lock is already held.
-func holdScanLock(t *testing.T, path string) {
-	t.Helper()
-
-	lock, err := lockScanDatabase(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("lock %s: %v", path, err)
-	}
-
-	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = lock.Close() })
-}
-
-func TestRunSecondScanFails(t *testing.T) {
-	// README §Database: while one scan holds the lock, a second scan
-	// fails at once, naming the lock file, without creating the
-	// database.
-	path := testDBPath(t)
-	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
-
-	holdScanLock(t, path)
-
-	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
-
-	code := run([]string{cmdScan, t.TempDir()}, &stdout, &stderr)
-	if code != exitFatal {
-		t.Errorf("run(scan) = %d, want %d", code, exitFatal)
-	}
-
-	want := "sfdupes: another scan is running (lock held on " +
-		path + ".lock)\n"
-	if got := stderr.String(); got != want {
-		t.Errorf("stderr = %q, want %q", got, want)
-	}
-
-	if got := stdout.String(); got != "" {
-		t.Errorf("stdout = %q, want nothing (data only)", got)
-	}
-
-	_, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
-		t.Errorf("stat %s = %v, want the database not created", path, err)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestRunScanReleasesLock(t *testing.T) {
-	// README §Database: a scan releases the lock however it ends.
-	t.Run("success", func(t *testing.T) {
-		path := testDBPath(t)
-		t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
-
-		scanFixture(t)
-		holdScanLock(t, path)
-	})
-
-	t.Run("fatal error", func(t *testing.T) {
-		path := brokenDatabase(t)
-		t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
-
-		code := run([]string{cmdScan, t.TempDir()}, io.Discard, io.Discard)
-		if code != exitFatal {
-			t.Fatalf("run(scan) = %d, want %d", code, exitFatal)
-		}
-
-		holdScanLock(t, path)
-	})
-}
-
-func TestRunReportsDuringScan(t *testing.T) {
-	// README §Database: report and trees never take the lock, so they
-	// run while a scan holds it.
-	path := testDBPath(t)
-	t.Setenv(databaseEnv, path)
-
-	scanFixture(t)
-	holdScanLock(t, path)
-
-	for _, name := range []string{cmdReport, cmdTrees} {
-		var stderr bytes.Buffer
-
-		code := run([]string{name}, io.Discard, &stderr)
-		if code != exitOK {
-			t.Errorf("run(%s) = %d, want %d; stderr: %s",
-				name, code, exitOK, stderr.String())
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestRunStdoutClosedIsFatal(t *testing.T) {
 	// README §Error handling: a stdout write failure exits 1, reported
 	// in one line on stderr.

scan.go

@@ -85,13 +85,11 @@ type fileMeta struct {
 // least one other file shares are ever hashed: a size-unique file
 // cannot be a duplicate. A file of headTailMin or more gets its content
 // hash only when its size, head, and tail match another file's. Flag
-// parsing and the at-least-one-operand check are done by cobra. The
-// scan holds the lock on the database for its whole run, so a second
-// scan fails before it walks the filesystem or opens the database.
-// Errors are returned rather than exiting, so that the deferred close —
-// which takes the database out of WAL mode — always runs, and the lock
-// is released after it. Cancelling ctx unwinds the worker pools and
-// aborts the scan with the context's error.
+// parsing and the at-least-one-operand check are done by cobra. Errors
+// are returned rather than exiting, so that the deferred close — which
+// takes the database out of WAL mode — always runs. Cancelling ctx
+// unwinds the worker pools and aborts the scan with the context's
+// error.
 func runScan(ctx context.Context, roots []string, workers int,
 	oneFS bool,
 ) error {
@@ -106,13 +104,6 @@ func runScan(ctx context.Context, roots []string, workers int,
 
 	dbPath := databasePath()
 
-	lock, err := lockScanDatabase(dbPath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	defer func() { _ = lock.Close() }()
-
 	db, err := openScanDatabase(ctx, dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -220,14 +211,18 @@ type scanState struct {
 // in the content hash of every record of headTailMin or more whose
 // size, head, and tail match another record's). Records outside the
 // roots are never touched, except that the content phase fills in
-// their content hash.
+// their content hash. Operands the walk cannot start from are dropped
+// first, so the records beneath them count as outside the roots unless
+// they lie under another root.
 func syncScan(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
 	workers int, oneFS bool,
 ) (scanStats, error) {
-	roots = pruneRoots(roots)
-
 	s := &scanState{db: db}
 
+	// Types are checked before pruning so that an operand under a
+	// dropped one is still scanned, not dropped as lying under it.
+	roots = pruneRoots(s.walkableRoots(roots))
+
 	err := s.loadIndex(ctx, roots)
 	if err != nil {
 		return s.st, err
@@ -263,6 +258,35 @@ func syncScan(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB, roots []string,
 	return s.st, s.contentPhase(ctx, workers)
 }
 
+// walkableRoots returns the operands the walk can start from: regular
+// files, and directories not named .zfs. Every other operand is warned
+// about, counted as skipped, and dropped. A dropped operand is no
+// longer a root, so the records stored beneath it count as outside the
+// roots and are not deleted as unverified, unless it lies under another
+// root. An operand that fails lstat here is kept, and the walk warns
+// about it.
+func (s *scanState) walkableRoots(roots []string) []string {
+	kept := make([]string, 0, len(roots))
+
+	for _, root := range roots {
+		fi, err := os.Lstat(root)
+		if err == nil {
+			warn := operandWarning(root, fi)
+			if warn != "" {
+				s.st.skipped++
+
+				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, escapePath(warn))
+
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+
+		kept = append(kept, root)
+	}
+
+	return kept
+}
+
 // loadIndex indexes the database records under the scan roots for
 // change detection and collects the sizes of every record outside
 // them: out-of-scope records join the size census so a scanned file
@@ -799,11 +823,43 @@ func sendEvent(ctx context.Context, events chan<- walkEvent,
 	}
 }
 
+// operandWarning returns the one-line warning for an operand the walk
+// does not start from, naming the path and what it is, or "" for one it
+// does: a regular file, or a directory not named .zfs. Symlinks are
+// never followed, including as operands.
+func operandWarning(root string, fi fs.FileInfo) string {
+	var kind string
+
+	switch mode := fi.Mode(); {
+	case mode.IsRegular():
+		return ""
+	case mode.IsDir():
+		if filepath.Base(root) != ".zfs" {
+			return ""
+		}
+
+		kind = ".zfs directory"
+	case mode&fs.ModeSymlink != 0:
+		kind = "symlink"
+	case mode&fs.ModeSocket != 0:
+		kind = "socket"
+	case mode&fs.ModeNamedPipe != 0:
+		kind = "FIFO"
+	case mode&fs.ModeDevice != 0:
+		kind = "device node"
+	default:
+		kind = "non-regular file"
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("walk %s: skipping %s operand", root, kind)
+}
+
 // seedRoot turns one PATH operand into the walk's starting state: a
-// regular-file operand is statted and emitted directly, a directory
-// operand becomes an initial job, and a symlink or other non-regular
-// operand yields nothing (symlinks are never followed, including as
-// operands).
+// regular-file operand is statted and emitted directly, and a directory
+// operand becomes an initial job. walkableRoots has already dropped
+// every other operand. One that has changed into something else since
+// is warned about and skipped here; it is still a root, so the records
+// stored beneath it are deleted as unverified.
 func seedRoot(ctx context.Context, root string,
 	events chan<- walkEvent,
 ) []dirJob {
@@ -817,30 +873,30 @@ func seedRoot(ctx context.Context, root string,
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	switch {
-	case fi.IsDir():
-		if filepath.Base(root) == ".zfs" {
-			return nil
-		}
+	warn := operandWarning(root, fi)
+	if warn != "" {
+		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{warn: warn, fail: true})
 
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if fi.IsDir() {
 		dev, ok := deviceOfInfo(fi)
 
 		return []dirJob{{path: root, rootDev: dev, rootDevOK: ok}}
-	case fi.Mode().IsRegular():
-		dev, ino := inodeOfInfo(fi)
-
-		sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{rec: fileRec{
-			path:  root,
-			size:  fi.Size(),
-			mtime: fi.ModTime().Unix(),
-			dev:   dev,
-			ino:   ino,
-		}})
-
-		return nil
-	default:
-		return nil
 	}
+
+	dev, ino := inodeOfInfo(fi)
+
+	sendEvent(ctx, events, walkEvent{rec: fileRec{
+		path:  root,
+		size:  fi.Size(),
+		mtime: fi.ModTime().Unix(),
+		dev:   dev,
+		ino:   ino,
+	}})
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 // startWalkWorkers starts the walk worker pool. Each worker processes

scan_test.go

@@ -857,9 +857,11 @@ func TestWalkFileAndSymlinkOperands(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("file operand: recs = %+v, errs = %d", recs, errs)
 	}
 
-	// A symlink operand is not followed and yields nothing.
+	// A symlink operand that reaches the walk (it became one after
+	// walkableRoots checked it) is not followed: it yields a warning and
+	// no records.
 	recs, errs = collectWalk(t, []string{link}, false, 2)
-	if errs != 0 || len(recs) != 0 {
+	if errs != 1 || len(recs) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("symlink operand: recs = %+v, errs = %d", recs, errs)
 	}
 }