Symlink implementation: support of shell links???

[Larry Hall (RFK Partners, Inc.)]

Mark Southern wrote:
> Correct me if i am wrong with any of this...
> 
> Windows 98 thru XP ( with the .NET framework installed ) support shell
> links. These are different from shortcuts. A shell link is a folder ( with a
> couple of files inside it ) that points to another folder (ie a symlink).
> The benefit of this approach is that in shell link aware applications (such
> as windows explorer etc.) these show up as directories rather than shortcut
> (.lnk) files and enable browsing. As far as i can see, cmd.exe does not
> support shell links.
> 
> For a better explaination of this see < http://www.pearlmagik.com/winbolic/
> 
>>. This is a great tool for creating shell links.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My question for discussion is: should cygwin support shell links as
> directory symlinks or as mount points??

It's interesting to see how many runs MS takes at implementing this
basic functionality and how many times they don't get it right.  OK,
personal opinion but just look at all the "ifs" and "buts" at the
site mentioned above (which does a good review of pros and cons,
requirements, etc) and you have to ask yourself, do we need yet another
incomplete implementation of links in Windows?  Apparently, getting it
right is *real* difficult.  The relevance of this mini-rant to the question
at hand is that I'm not sure that it makes sense to support shell links
at all, unless Windows does in it's tools (in which case it may force
our hand).  The path logic in Cygwin is already complex and adding
support for a new link scheme (the third), which doesn't replace the
either of the other two, would seem to me to result in even more
complex code, leading to more bugs.  So I don't see that there is a
benefit to supporting these as symbolic links for directories.  Also,
I don't see any advantage of shell links over the current mount
implementation.  So, at the moment, I don't see a compelling role
for shell links in Cygwin.  But don't let the fact that I'm tossing cold
water onto the notion of supporting shell links in Cygwin stop you
if you think there's value in the idea.  Feel free to implement
something and send in a patch.  Then folks can discuss the pros and
cons in the light of a concrete example.




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


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