Re: [boost] Re: [filesystem] new functions proposals

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-04-30 08:45:30

At 12:14 AM 4/27/2003, Trevor Taylor wrote:

 >So it sounds to me like the :blat is *not* part of the extension. It
 >sounds like the NT file name is made up of three parts: name, extension
 >and "stream".
 >
 >In which case I think it is fine to have functions extension() and
 >change_extension() - they just should not report or modify the stream 
part.
 >
 >To implement them I guess I'd need to know whether the file name was an
 >NTFS filename, and then how to reliably locate the "extension" part?
 >
 >Just my 2 cents...

Many legacy filesystems append version or similar identification to file 
names, often using ':' as a delimiter.

OTOH, ':' is a valid character in a file name (and in an extension) on many 
operating systems.

Trying to distinguish between those two cases on an operating system by 
operating system basis just doesn't seem possible. Better to only promise 
what we are sure can be delivered - in other words, Vladimir's suggested 
semantics.

Thanks,

--Beman