[llvm-dev] Supporting symbolic links in Path library routines

[Cameron Esfahani via llvm-dev]

include/llvm/Support/FileSystem.h has file_type which enumerates the file system’s view of the file type.  One of the values is “symlink_file”.

But because the Unix implementation of status() calls stat() instead of lstat(), if the path refers to a symbolic link, the link is followed.  There’s no way to get information about the symbolic link itself.

I think changing status() to call lstat() is a bad idea, so it seems like the only other option is to create a new routine when you explicitly want to check if what the path refers to is a symbolic link.

Or this is such an uncommon case, that it’s the caller’s responsibility to detect if a file path refers to a symbolic link in whatever platform appropriate mechanism they have available to them.  If that’s the case, then I suggest removing symlink_file from file_type.

Any comments?

Cameron Esfahani
dirty at apple.com

"There are times in the life of a nation when the only place a decent man can find himself is in prison."