boost systemfile

Hello all,
I am trying to use the "path" and "copy_file" functions of boost filesystem in C++, and they work fine, except for cases when there are hidden files/subdirectories as below:

for example, if I have the following directory pattern (Dir1 is the parent directory, and the rest are the child files/subdirectories):

Dir1
file1
file2
.file3
subdir1
.subdir2

the following code will go through the Dir1, and it will fail in creating the "path" when it reaches ".file3" or ".subdir2"

boost::filesystem::path dir1_path(filepath.c_str());
if( !boost::filesystem::exists(dir1_path) )
cout<<"\nFile Not Found:" <<"\n";
boost::filesystem::copy_file(filepath.c_str(), dir2_path);

It is very common to have subdirectories inside directories that start with "." (in Windows platform these are the hidden files), any suggestion as far as how to copy a file that starts with character "." ?

I would appreciate some help.

thanks in advance,
Rudy

Quote:

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It is very common to have subdirectories inside directories that start with "."

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No.

Quote:

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(in Windows platform these are the hidden files)

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No, this is the case on Linux, not on Windows. On Windows a '.' is a the separator between the basename and the file extension.

Quote:

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any suggestion as far as how to copy a file that starts with character "." ?

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Don't see why you can't copy them.

Let me rephrase my question to be more specific, and I wouldn't bother the reader by referring to Windows/UNIX platform.

this is my question:
I have the following directory pattern (Dir1 is the parent directory, and the rest are the child files/subdirectories):

Dir1
file1
file2
.file3
subdir1
.subdir2

the following code will go through the Dir1, and it will fail in creating the "path" when it reaches ".file3" or ".subdir2"

boost::filesystem:ath dir1_path(filepath.c_str());

How should I create a path to a directory that (for example) has the following path?
/root/my_docs/pgg/.file1

filesystem::path works just fine if I had to deal with (/root/my_docs/pgg/file1) instead of (/root/my_docs/pgg/.file1) !!!
apparently when the file/directory starts with '.', I cannot get filesystem::path to behave properly.

please advise,
thanks,
Rudy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rudy01

the following code will go through the Dir1, and it will fail in creating the "path" when it reaches ".file3" or ".subdir2"

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When you say "create the path", do you mean create an instance of boost::filesystem::path that is initialized to the path that ends with ".file3"?
Are you getting an assertion somewhere, or a crash?
Also please mention which version of boost you are using and which version of the Filesystem library (version 2 and 3 are maintained in parallel).

I think I am using version 1.0

// Use, modification, and distribution is subject to the Boost Software
// License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy
// at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)

And this is the error that I am getting:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'boost::filesystem::filesystem_error'
what(): boost::filesystem::path: invalid name ".sync.cpp.swp" in path: "src/.sync.cpp.swp"
Abort

can this be the issue?

thanks,
Rudy

just found out that I am using boost version 1.45, and gcc version 3.3.6

/apps/boost/1.45.0/lib:/apps/gcc/4.3.5/lib

when I tried to use higher version of gcc (e.g. 4.4.0, 4.5.1, 4.6.0), I am all getting errors regarding boost

g++ -lboost_filesystem -Wno-deprecated -g src/sync.cpp -o obj/sync_dir

In file included from /usr/include/boost/mpl/apply.hpp:23,
from /usr/include/boost/iterator/iterator_facade.hpp:34,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/path.hpp:16,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/operations.hpp:18,
from src/sync.cpp:17:
/usr/include/boost/mpl/apply_wrap.hpp:81:31: error: missing binary operator before token "("
/usr/include/boost/mpl/apply_wrap.hpp:173:31: error: missing binary operator before token "("
In file included from /usr/include/boost/mpl/bind.hpp:27,
from /usr/include/boost/mpl/lambda.hpp:18,
from /usr/include/boost/mpl/apply.hpp:25,
from /usr/include/boost/iterator/iterator_facade.hpp:34,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/path.hpp:16,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/operations.hpp:18,
from src/sync.cpp:17:
/usr/include/boost/mpl/apply_wrap.hpp:81:31: error: missing binary operator before token "("
/usr/include/boost/mpl/apply_wrap.hpp:173:31: error: missing binary operator before token "("
In file included from /usr/include/boost/mpl/lambda.hpp:18,
from /usr/include/boost/mpl/apply.hpp:25,
from /usr/include/boost/iterator/iterator_facade.hpp:34,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/path.hpp:16,
from /usr/include/boost/filesystem/operations.hpp:18,
from src/sync.cpp:17:
/usr/include/boost/mpl/bind.hpp:364:31: error: missing binary operator before token "("

please help,
thanks,
Rudy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rudy01

I think I am using version 1.0

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That's the version of the license.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rudy01

And this is the error that I am getting:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'boost::filesystem::filesystem_error'
what(): boost::filesystem::path: invalid name ".sync.cpp.swp" in path: "src/.sync.cpp.swp"
Abort

can this be the issue?

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That means an exception is being thrown from the boost library, but it is not caught by your code. Find out from which line in your code the exception is being thrown by stepping through your program with the debugger.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rudy01

just found out that I am using boost version 1.45, and gcc version 3.3.6

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Version 1.45 defaults to version 3 of Boost.Filesystem. I'm using version 1.44 (version 3 of Boost.Filesystem) in VS2008 and the following program does not throw an exception.

Code:

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#define BOOST_FILESYSTEM_VERSION 3
#include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
        try {
                boost::filesystem::path p("src/.sync.cpp.swp");
        }
        catch (const std::exception& e) {
                std::cout << "Exception: " << e.what() << std::endl;
        }
}

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