Re: [boost] Re: Design for a file system library

From: Jason Stewart (res0054p_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-03-14 10:14:19

> >
> > Because that's the library I'm working on.  If you look at standard
>library
> > components ordered chronologically by date of invention, early ones
>(mostly
> > C, a few of the early C++ libraries) used unfortunate global state.  As
> > time passed, the awareness of the problem increased, and newer libraries
> > almost never retain global state variables, and are thus much much safer.
>
>The current directory is not related in any way to a standard library
>component. It is a fact of life (fopen("test.txt", "r") - where is
>test.txt?) You can ignore it but it will continue to exist; for instance, a
>third-party library can change it and you'll have no recourse.

I agree with this. I think most people agree that global data in a library. 
However, the file system library is an interface to the O/S. Therefore I 
think it needs to access and understand the current directory.

As to examples, most of the underlying library calls rely on the current 
directory if given a relative path as do the Windows common file dialogs.

Reducing dependencies on the current directory is good. Eliminating it is 
not in my opinion.

Jason Stewart