Re: ".svn" directory name no good (in fact, it is worse than I thought)

At 8:57 PM +0000 9/24/03, Ronald Cannes wrote:
>
>Applications that *ship* with Windows cannot handle it! Try creating
>a ".svn" directory using the File Explorer. It won't work.

It's not important whether Explorer can *create* these directories;
we do that. It would be important if Explorer couldn't work with
them (explore them, move them around, copy them, etc), but it can.
If you're uncomfortable with an Explorer that can do some things and
not others, you're in the wrong operating system.....

>Also, some of the Win32 SDK functions cannot handle it, at least not
>the .NET version of those functions.

That sounds more important.

>I see no reason why this shouldn't be changed this into something
>that works properly ASAP (given that this name is fairly localized
>in the code base)

Over-constrained problem: the dot business is a Unix way to "hide"
files and directories, which is something of a convenience (indeed,
we've had vigorous discussions about whether we should set the
Windows "hidden file" bit for these directories, for the same reason).

I suggest a typical (and common) compatibility compromise: "be
permissive in what you accept, rigorous in what you create":

* On Win32, create these directories named "_svn".
* Anywhere else, create them ".svn".
* On any platform, be willing to accept either.
* For consistency, define some precedence in case both directories
exist in the same spot (I nominate ".svn").

-- 
-==-
Jack Repenning
CollabNet, Inc.
8000 Marina Boulevard, Suite 600
Brisbane, California 94005
o: 650.228.2562
c: 408.835-8090
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