Re: [Boost-users] very basic boost::filesystem::path question

From: Matthias Kaeppler (nospam_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-07-15 00:46:08

Victor A. Wagner Jr. wrote:
> '/' works just fine in Windows, always has except from a command shell
> if it's an error in boost, then there is an error in boost

I am using Boost.filesystem for my filemanager and I also noticed that 
it's extremely harsh with naming conventions for paths.
However, since this discussion comes up periodically, I recall that 
someone said that's because the library is also supposed to run on more 
exotic platforms which use a totally different syntax for addressing 
files than the average Linux or Windows user is used to.
Though I can't recall the name, a (today quite dated) OS was mentioned, 
which doesn't use slashes or backslashes at all to address files. That's 
why using both slashes and backslashes is platform dependent and that's 
also why filesystem throws when you don't use native together with '/' 
or '\'.

(Then again however the native keyword looks rather useless, because 
there *is* no syntax which works for all platforms and so you are forced 
to use native).

-- 
Matthias Kaeppler