Thanks David,

I've seen FileSystem package http://www.wiresong.ca/filesystem/ it seems related in some way too

2011/1/28 David T. Lewis lewis@mail.msen.com:

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 01:51:22PM +0100, Hern??n Morales Durand wrote:

...

Let's say you want to resolve paths in a cross platform way

Binaries @ 'MyExec' Libraries @ 'MyLib' SystemLibraries @ 'SystemLib' etc.

then Binaries is

In Windows: #( 'C:\Program Files' 'C:\Archivos de Programa' ...) " and all standard locations including translations " In UNIX: #('/usr/bin/' '/usr/local/bin' ....) " and all standard locations " etc

Now you may say it is necessary to scan all directories to find MyExec, yes but you may then save that location

myBinaryLocation := Binaries @ 'MyExec'.

so you scan for it just once.

What do you think? it is already implemented anywhere? If not what package do you think is more suitable or prepared for implementing it?

Hern??n,

This is of course very platform dependent, and it is more complex than you might expect due to differences in file systems, operating systems, volume names (windows), environment variables and search path conventions.

Both Windows and Unix use various seach paths accessible through environment variables, and the conventions for this tend to change over time with different OS versions. So it would probably be best to rely directly on those environment variables for identifying search paths.

Aside from the conventions for default locations and search paths, some of what you are looking for may also be implemented for Windows and Unix in SqS/CommandShell in class ShellSyntax:

My instances implement parsing of strings in a manner similar to   a simple Unix command shell. I provide path name expansion in the   context of an external file system, and support the syntax required   for IO redirection. All file name globbing and PATH searching are   implemented in Smalltalk rather than in C library functions or an   external command shell.

Most of my syntax is applicable for any operating system. Where   needed, platform specific methods are in my "platform dependent"   category. Currently, Unix and Windows are supported, and other   platforms have not been tested. The primary difference between   Unix and Windows support is that device names (such as 'C:') are   used in Windows path strings. Separate current working directory   strings are maintained for all Windows device names. For Unix,   a single current working directory path is used. On Windows,   this permits the CommandShell 'cd' command to support changing   directories to another device without losing track of the current   working directory for the previous device.

Command pipeline syntax is not supported here. See CommandShell   for the implementation of command pipelines.

Dave

I've just implemented an initial release on top of FileSystem and ProcessWrapper (it uses some bit of Grease too). This is how it works in Windows:

( FSLocator sysEnvBinaries / 'notepad.exe' ) resolve " C:\WINDOWS\system32\notepad.exe " ( FSLocator sysEnvBinaries / 'X264VFW.DLL' ) resolve " C:\WINDOWS\system32\X264VFW.DLL " ( FSLocator userBinaries / 'excel.exe' ) resolve " C:\Archivos de programa\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE " ( FSLocator userBinaries / 'firefox.exe' ) resolve " C:\Archivos de programa\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

So #sysEnvBinaries search in the OS PATH environment variable locations (which is usually pretty fast) and #userBinaries in the "program files" locations (it could be slow depending the amount of entries). It's only tested under Windows, IIRC user binaries in Unix are inside "/usr/local/bin" but you may tweak it to other locations, I have no access to a Unix or MacOS. Feel free to suggest or add any enhacements you like. Cheers,

Hernán

2011/1/28 Colin Putney colin@wiresong.com:

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Hernán Morales Durand hernan.morales@gmail.com wrote:

...

Thanks David,

I've seen FileSystem package http://www.wiresong.ca/filesystem/ it seems related in some way too

Yes, FileSystem does attempt to provide a cross-platform way to resolve paths that are system-dependent. It doesn't include a way to search for executables, although that's a good feature idea. As David, mentioned you probably want to get the value of the PATH environment variable, and use that for your search. That will handle cross-host differences as well as cross-platform issues.

Colin