On Sun, 2002-02-24 at 13:23, K. Harkins wrote:
> clearly there seems to be a problem in how swish-e parses VMS paths .... 
> however is this known, and is there a workaround?

Well, I have no clue about VMS specifically.  This may not even be
related.  But, SWISH-E does have problems with directory name parsing on
Windows.  Some problems are ultimately caused by SWISH-E trying to "fix"
directory names.  And some are just plain bugs with the OS.  Bill and I
have recently discussed the problems on the developer list.  But, we've
not really come up with any magic solutions.  I do think we've
identified some places where we can make improvements in SWISH-E's
directory and file name parsing.


Bottom line, I think, is that Unix is pretty darn forgiving when it
comes to directory seperators.  ;-)


Details on Win32:
Windows has broken/inconsistent directory and file I/O functions;
particularly POSIX/Xenix compatibility functions.  stat() is just one
example.  Some functions in the Win32 API either require or forbid a
trailing directory seperator ('\\' or '/') depending on the semantics of
the situation.  For example, with one function, a network directory
(\\HOST\SHARE) might require a trailing slash while a local directory
(DISK:SOMEDIR) might forbid it.  Another function might work exactly
backwards from this.  There is no obvious consistency to which sets of
functions behave in which ways.  I assume this is an artifact of
hundreds of disconnected programmers merging various APIs and codebases
(DOS, OS/2, Xenix) into one "contiguous" Win32 API over years.  There
are probably special little "hacks" in each function which account for
the odd inconsistencies.  They make writing a portable program a pain,
though.

-- 
 David Norris
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