[Python-Dev] [Python-3000] Unipath package (original) (raw)

Mike Orr sluggoster at gmail.com
Mon Jan 29 00:08:55 CET 2007

On 1/28/07, Mike Orr <sluggoster at gmail.com> wrote:

> Passing an absolute foreign path is an error, because there's no sane way > to interpret "C:\" on Posix or "/" on Windows. > There is in fact a very sane way to interpret "/" on Windows: the root > directory of the "current" drive. It's equivalent to "".

That's one way to do it, but whether Unipath should presume this is what the programmer wants is another issue. One can make an argument either way.

The issue is that maybe the programmer wants to copy "/etc/mailcap" on his Posix filesystem to "\etc\mailcap" on his Windows drive, but should we assume this since \etc does not have the special status on Windows that /etc does on Unix? Maybe we should raise an exception because the programmer intended to copy it somewhere else and forgot something. Nothing wrong with forcing him to say, "Yes, I really mean ''."

As for Posix-format paths in config files that should be translated to the native NT, that sounds straightforward. These paths should be relative to some platform-specific root, because "C:/etc/mailcap" is certainly not the path you intend to use on all platforms. (Unix would put it in the current directory, wherever that might be.) You can create a Path("/foo/bar") on NT and use it. The only thing you can't do is:

p = Path( PosixPath("/foo/bar") )   # Illegal for absolute paths

if Path != PosixPath.

-- Mike Orr <sluggoster at gmail.com>

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