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Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 10:48:05 -0400
To: Martin Oberhuber <martin DOT oberhuber AT windriver DOT com>,
        "'cygwin AT cygwin DOT com'" <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
From: "Larry Hall (RFK Partners, Inc)" <lhall AT rfk DOT com>
Subject: Re: Problem with Windows .lnk files treated as Symlinks
In-Reply-To: <549191FE7B71D311BC5900104B292132010E4F8C@kirk.takefive.co.
 at>
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At 09:27 AM 5/3/2001, Martin Oberhuber wrote:
>Hello,
>
>since cygwin-1.3, Windows *.lnk files are treated as UNIX
>symbolic links by default.
>
>We rean into a problem where we wanted to use the "cp" 
>command to copy a Windows *.lnk shortcut to a new place.
>This worked alright with previous cygwin versions, but
>with 1.3, the file referenced was copied instead of the
>*.lnk file. 
>
>One problem with this behavour is that additional attributes
>of the *.lnk file (like parameters passed to the program
>referenced, or an icon associated) are not copied in that 
>case.
>
>Looking at options of the CYGWIN environment variable as
>well as options of the "cp" command, I found NO WAY of
>copying the *.lnk file instead of the file referenced!
>Even "cp -d", which is documented to preserve symbolic
>links (and works like that on Linux) did not work.
>Setting CYGWIN=nowinsymlinks only affects link creation,
>but not link interpretation by "cp".
>
>Taking into account that Windows Shortcuts are more than
>UNIX symbolic links, and that thus a one-to-one mapping
>is always problematic, I would suggest the following to
>preserve a clean environment as well as backward
>compatibility:
>
>1.) Only *.lnk files created by Cygwin (with the special
>     cygwin header), should be treated as symbolic links when 
>     they are read. If the *.lnk file is not a "cygwin *.lnk"
>     with its special header, it should be treated as a plain 
>     file.
>     If this is not observed, important information may be lost 
>     (also think about programs like tar that cannot reproduce 
>     an exact image of the original file system if *.lnk files 
>     are not completely copied).


Since the goal of making Cygwin symbolic links use the Windows short-cut 
mechanism was to allow Windows and Cygwin to interoperate in this area, I
don't see any benefit to trying to break this with your suggestion.  
Certainly, this is the way things worked prior to this change since short-cuts
were not understood by Cygwin and Cygwin symbolic links were not understood
by Windows.  If you need this division, you want to use the old mechanism.


>2.) If CYGWIN=nowinsymlinks is set, not only symbolic link
>     creation but also symbolic link interpretation should
>     be "classical", i.e. *.lnk files are treated as files.


This may be indicative of a bug.


>Please keep me informed on your plans regarding this issue.


Watch the list and you'll see any discussion of this.  Or send in a patch for
(2) for consideration.



Larry Hall                              lhall AT rfk DOT com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      http://www.rfk.com
118 Washington Street                   (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
Holliston, MA 01746                     (508) 893-9889 - FAX


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