On Fri, 2009-12-11 at 14:51 +0100, Michael Wild wrote: > On 11. Dec, 2009, at 14:27 , Marcel Loose wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > I was browsing the CMake sources for a problem I was facing with the > > creation of symlinks (on Unix that is) and I noticed that the > > SystemTools::CreateSymlink function simply returns false when building > > on a Windows platform. > > > > Does that mean that I cannot use 'cmake -E create_symlink' on Windows. > > If that's the case I consider it a bug, because the documentation > > suggests that 'cmake -E create_symlink' provides a platform independent > > way of creating symbolic links. So, if the OS and/or filesystem does not > > support symbolic links, IMHO, it should just copy the file. > > > > Best regards, > > Marcel Loose. > > > > Simply copying the file might be just as bad if people assume it really IS a > symlink... IMHO, if the OS can't create a symlink, cmake -E create_symlink > should fail loudly, not just silently ignore it. And somebody should > implement this function for Windows >= Vista/2008 (i.e. WINVER >= 0x0600): > > http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363866(VS.85).aspx > > Michael
Hi Michael, I think it depends. Failing loudly may not always be desirable, just as failing silently. In my particular case, I was just creating a bunch of symlinks to directories; no need to discern these symlinks from the actual directories, but I need to be able to access the directory contents. When it comes to symlinks to files, there may be situations where you would really like it to be a link, e.g. when editing the file. Would that be a CMake usage scenario?? I don't know what's the best way to deal with this issue. What do the CMake developers think of this? Best regards, Marcel Loose. _______________________________________________ Powered by www.kitware.com Visit other Kitware open-source projects at http://www.kitware.com/opensource/opensource.html Please keep messages on-topic and check the CMake FAQ at: http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_FAQ Follow this link to subscribe/unsubscribe: http://www.cmake.org/mailman/listinfo/cmake