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Message-ID: <014701c234b6$09567b30$0200a8c0@lifelesswks>
From: "Robert Collins" <robert DOT collins AT syncretize DOT net>
To: <cygwin-developers AT cygwin DOT com>
References: <00c801c234a6$d89c1b80$0200a8c0 AT lifelesswks> <20020726155912 DOT I3921 AT cygbert DOT vinschen DOT de>
Subject: Re: 'native' symlinks for 2K+
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 01:06:35 +1000
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===
----- Original Message -----
From: "Corinna Vinschen" <vinschen AT redhat DOT com>
To: "Cygwin Developers" <cygwin-developers AT cygwin DOT com>
Sent: Friday, July 26, 2002 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: 'native' symlinks for 2K+


> On Fri, Jul 26, 2002 at 11:17:51PM +1000, Robert Collins wrote:
> > Is there any interest in an implementation of symlinks via reparse
> > points for win2k and above?
>
> I've tested that already when 2K was in beta 3 state.  The problems:
>
> - No reparse points to files, only drives and dirs are possible.

Robert AT LIFELESSWKS /
$ ls -l
total 63
-rwx------    1 Robert   None           93 Jun 11 00:12 cygwin.bat
-rwx------    0 Robert   None           93 Jun 11 00:12 test.bat

test.bat is a reparse to cygwin.bat (XP Pro). The MSDN doco says nothing
about reparses being prevented from linking to files. Maybe that was a
Beta 3 thing?

> - The dest file is always saved in absolute mode.  This prevents
>   easy moving around of relative symlinks.

Hmm. I don't see that as an issue. A cygwin program copying the symlink
will either copy the target or all mknod/ ln.

> - The dest file is always (obviously) saved in native Windows path
>   notation.  This doesn't work well with the Cygwin mount table.

Yes, that would be annoying. Mind you, how often does that change?
Also, reparse points would let us build a 'native' mount structure that
literally matches the cygwin mount structure. (i.e the /usr/bin vs /bin
could be a reparse instead of a mount point).

> So the answer is no.  I'm sorry.  When 2K was new I was pretty sure
> that using reparse points would be a good idea, too.

Do the above points alter this interest?

Rob