RE: Ls POSIX style slink output
From: Brian Dessent [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Yes, those symlinks in /etc are explicitly created with Win32 paths by the base-files postinstall script. I think the reasoning here is that if a POSIX path were used for the target of the symlink then it would have to be updated if the user ever changed the name of the /cygdrive prefix, whereas just using a Win32 path is always correct and insulates from that variable. I appreciate your taking the time to read my suggestion and respond so quickly with such a complete clear and complete explanation. As an alternative suggestion, how about using forward slashes instead of backwards slashes (C:/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts) in the base-files postinstall script? That would allow pasting the ls -l ouput to cd, without using the riskier /cygdrive prefix. -- Matt Seitz Manager, File System Virtualization Cisco Systems, Inc. .:|:.:|:. -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
Re: Ls POSIX style slink output
Matt Seitz (matseitz) wrote: I appreciate your taking the time to read my suggestion and respond so quickly with such a complete clear and complete explanation. As an alternative suggestion, how about using forward slashes instead of backwards slashes (C:/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts) in the base-files postinstall script? That would allow pasting the ls -l ouput to cd, without using the riskier /cygdrive prefix. That would be up to the base-files package maintainer, however I don't think it's necessary. As I said the current DLL code already normalizes symlink targets so if you use a snapshot you will see those links in POSIX form with ls -l even though they're stored on disk as Win32 paths. If you want a temporary local fix that doesn't involve using a snapshot you can just recreate the links in any form you want, as the base-files postinstall will not overwrite or recreate them if they exist. Brian -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
RE: Ls POSIX style slink output
From: Brian Dessent [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] That would be up to the base-files package maintainer, however I don't think it's necessary. As I said the current DLL code already normalizes symlink targets so if you use a snapshot you will see those links in POSIX form with ls -l even though they're stored on disk as Win32 paths. Good point. I'll look forward to the new release, and just use your suggested workaround for now. Thank you again for your help. -- Matt Seitz Manager, File System Virtualization Cisco Systems, Inc. .:|:.:|:. -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
Re: Ls POSIX style slink output
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 According to Matt Seitz (matseitz) on 9/19/2007 5:32 PM: What do you think of changing ls -l to display symbolic links using POSIX style paths instead of Windows style? When I run ls -l /etc, the symbolic links are displayed using Windows format (C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts). It would be easier to copy and paste the output to a cd command if ls -l displayed a POSIX style path (/cygdrive/c/WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc/hosts). Symlinks merely contain whatever text they were created with. If the text it was created with was Windows style, then readlink(2) will not translate it. I suppose I could try to patch ln(1) to posix-ify any name that looks like a Windows filename before actually calling symlink(2), but I'm not sure it buys much. So for now, it's a feature, not a bug. - -- Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well! Eric Blake [EMAIL PROTECTED] volunteer cygwin coreutils maintainer -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (Cygwin) Comment: Public key at home.comcast.net/~ericblake/eblake.gpg Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFG8ccS84KuGfSFAYARAiOFAJ0URAAePBKMruh7nJ6Es6jalbTGTQCeLeVE lb9xV3saURobKFO1VcP1wqU= =z5Kf -END PGP SIGNATURE- -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
Re: Ls POSIX style slink output
Eric Blake wrote: Symlinks merely contain whatever text they were created with. If the text it was created with was Windows style, then readlink(2) will not translate it. I suppose I could try to patch ln(1) to posix-ify any name that looks like a Windows filename before actually calling symlink(2), but I'm not sure it buys much. So for now, it's a feature, not a bug. Yes, those symlinks in /etc are explicitly created with Win32 paths by the base-files postinstall script. I think the reasoning here is that if a POSIX path were used for the target of the symlink then it would have to be updated if the user ever changed the name of the /cygdrive prefix, whereas just using a Win32 path is always correct and insulates from that variable. Moreover, I think recent versions of the Cygwin DLL (i.e. 1.7/HEAD) do in fact normalize the target to be in POSIX form when reading the contents of the symlink file. I seem to recall a headsup from Corinna about this a while ago. This means no special accomodations are needed in 'ls'. Brian -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
