Re: [boost] [filesystem] Function name changes

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-07-04 08:34:54

David Abrahams wrote:
> Michael Marcin wrote:
>> That is annoying but it seems like a trailing slash at the end of a path
>> would be enough to differentiate paths to files from paths to directories.
> 
> I don't like the idea of adding "file or directory" semantics to paths.
>  Paths are just paths.  What about symlinks?  What about devices?
> Should we find a way to represent that information in a path too?

I agree. It is a firm principal of the design that "paths are just 
paths". None of the path member functions go to the file system. There 
might not even be a file system; paths are sometimes manipulated by 
programs for purposes other than immediate use.

A trailing slash at the end of a path is preserved in case a particular 
application distinguishes that as a special case. But no 
Boost.Filesystem functions do so.

--Beman