Anonymous user
Talk:Make a backup file: Difference between revisions
→Assumes unix
Line 4:
:It looks like later versions of Windows [[wp:Symbolic_link#Windows_7_.26_Vista_symbolic_link|do have symbolic links]], but I never used symbolic links very much on any platform, so I don't know how important the operational differences are. --[[User:Mwn3d|Mwn3d]] 19:50, 9 November 2011 (UTC)
::Interesting, and they seem to work. And the "It is assumed" part of this task presumably means that if the program needs administrative privileges, it can be assumed to have them (I do not know what privileges are needed by default to rename or delete these links but administrator is needed by default to create them). --21:53, 9 November 2011 (UTC)
::: yes, i don't want to introduce another set of complications. and i certainly hope that links in windows can be manipulated without admin privileges though. but actually, the link itself does not need to be manipulated, only the target of the link.--[[User:EMBee|eMBee]] 03:11, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
:the task is written towards unix because that's all i know. :-) if you can help make it more generic, then i'd appreciate that. one of the points is to work out quirks when you deal with renaming files that actually point to a different location.
: libc may be used if it is linked to your language runtime or into the executable. what should be avoided is things like <code>exec</code> or <code>popen</code> which fork an external command, and even more so try not to use things like <code>system</code> which execute a shell to run the string you pass. the last one might make the task be a mere wrapper around any [[UNIX Shell]] entry.
: the reason for avoiding exec is that in some environments executing other commands has its own set of problems. path issues, security, or even simply availability, and also portability. (a solution that executes <code>mv</code> is going to be harder to port to windows than one that uses some libc <code>rename</code> function)--[[User:EMBee|eMBee]] 03:11, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
| |||