[boost] [Filesystem] Relational operators

From: Martin (adrianm_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-03-21 06:01:08

I have used the filesystem library for some time now and I am really happy with 
it.

In the CVS I noticed that it recently added relational operators and 
an "equivalent" function.

To my surprice the relational operators are implemented in a non-portable way. 
It only does a lexicographical compare! In the rationale it says:

"Programmers wishing to determine if two paths are "the same" must decide if 
that means "the same representation" or "resolve to the same actual file or 
directory", and choose the appropriate function accordingly."

In windows the path "file.cpp" is the same as "FILE.CPP" but not in posix. So 
if I write portable code I need to do add a function like

bool eq_path(const path& path1, const path& path2) {
#if BOOST_POSIX
  return path1.string() == path2.string();
#else
  return boost::algorithm::iequals(path1.string(), path2.string());
#endif
}

In most of my cases the equivalent function is not an alternative since it 
requires that both paths can be evaluted by the filesystem, i.e. paths must 
exist and the parent of relative paths must be known.

---------------------------------------

Another minor question: Why does the "leaf()" member function return a string 
and not a path?