"Paul Giaccone"
The following line in my Windows program:
boost::filesystem::path my_path(my_filename, boost::filesystem::native);
converts backslashes in my_filename to forward slashes, which means than when I use boost::filesystem::exists on the result, the file is reported as not existing even though it does.
I notice the comments in boost::filesystem::m_path_append(), which is called by the constructor of boost::filesystem::path, say that this is what the function does, but this contradicts the documentation. http://boost.org/libs/filesystem/doc/portability_guide.htm says, of native:
Side effect: Syntax for path constructor /src/ string is implementation defined according to the path syntax rules for the operating system.
Use: In path constructors, when the source is operator input or other sources which are formatted according to operating system rules.
I understand this to mean that boost::filesystem::native converts the file into the format required by the OS. I certainly would not expect it to make the format wrong if it is already correct.
Is there something I've overlooked here, or is this a bug, or is the documentation wrong (or just misleading)? I'm puzzled.
I assume you are using 1.33.1 or earlier. It certainly handles both back and forward slashes correctly for the mostpart, although I wouldn't be surprised if there were obsure bugs in corner cases such as \\? pathnames. Why don't you give the 1.34 version from the CVS HEAD a try. It uses a much simplified (and hopefully improved) way of handling native formats. You no longer have to do anything special such as using a special constructor argument. Good luck, --Beman