The attached patch is the one promised in
https://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2016-08/msg00431.html
Ken
From e46d88d4141737f7f75ec1fb60b6e404f598a965 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ken Brown
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2016 13:24:49 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Clarify Cygwin's support for Win32 paths
See https://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2016-08/msg00431.html.
---
winsup/doc/pathnames.xml | 14 +-
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/winsup/doc/pathnames.xml b/winsup/doc/pathnames.xml
index 3c0bdc1..6f9fefa 100644
--- a/winsup/doc/pathnames.xml
+++ b/winsup/doc/pathnames.xml
@@ -6,15 +6,18 @@
Introduction
-Cygwin supports both POSIX- and Win32-style paths. Directory
+The Cygwin DLL supports both POSIX- and Win32-style paths. Directory
delimiters may be either forward slashes or backslashes. Paths using
backslashes or starting with a drive letter are always handled as
Win32 paths. POSIX paths must only use forward slashes as delimiter,
otherwise they are treated as Win32 paths and file access might fail
in surprising ways.
-The usage of Win32 paths, though possible, is deprecated,
-since it circumvents important internal path handling mechanisms.
+Although the Cygwin DLL supports Win32 paths, not all
+Cygwin applications support them. Moreover, the usage of Win32 paths
+circumvents important internal path handling mechanisms. This usage
+is therefore strongly deprecated and may be removed in a future
+release of Cygwin.
See and
for more information.
@@ -451,11 +454,12 @@ filesystem borders by commands like find
-xdev.
Using native Win32 paths
-Using native Win32 paths in Cygwin, while possible, is generally
+Using native Win32 paths in Cygwin, while often possible, is generally
inadvisable. Those paths circumvent all internal integrity checking and
bypass the information given in the Cygwin mount table.
-The following paths are treated as native Win32 paths in Cygwin:
+The following paths are treated as native Win32 paths by the
+Cygwin DLL (but not necessarily by Cygwin applications):
--
2.8.3
