git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
wed 2026-10-07 16:51 UTC

[PATCH v2 13/18] mingw: implement `readlink()`

From
Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
Jan 9, 2026, 20:05 UTC
Message-ID
<1ae9c63a89e6b35d1658042685fdec0a572b375a.1767989115.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.2018.v2.git.1767989115.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Karsten Blees <karsten.blees@gmail.com>

Implement `readlink()` by reading NTFS reparse points via the `read_reparse_point()` function that was introduced earlier to determine the length of symlink targets. Works for symlinks and directory junctions.

Signed-off-by: Karsten Blees <karsten.blees@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
---
 compat/mingw-posix.h |  3 +--
 compat/mingw.c       | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/compat/mingw-posix.h b/compat/mingw-posix.h
index 0939feff27..896aa976b1 100644
--- a/compat/mingw-posix.h
+++ b/compat/mingw-posix.h
@@ -121,8 +121,6 @@ struct utsname {
  * trivial stubs
  */
 
-static inline int readlink(const char *path UNUSED, char *buf UNUSED, size_t bufsiz UNUSED)
-{ errno = ENOSYS; return -1; }
 static inline int symlink(const char *oldpath UNUSED, const char *newpath UNUSED)
 { errno = ENOSYS; return -1; }
 static inline int fchmod(int fildes UNUSED, mode_t mode UNUSED)
@@ -197,6 +195,7 @@ int setitimer(int type, struct itimerval *in, struct itimerval *out);
 int sigaction(int sig, struct sigaction *in, struct sigaction *out);
 int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 int uname(struct utsname *buf);
+int readlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t bufsiz);
 
 /*
  * replacements of existing functions
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 5d2a8c247c..b407a2ac07 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2698,6 +2698,30 @@ int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int readlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t bufsiz)
+{
+	WCHAR wpath[MAX_PATH];
+	char tmpbuf[MAX_PATH];
+	int len;
+	DWORD tag;
+
+	if (xutftowcs_path(wpath, path) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	if (read_reparse_point(wpath, TRUE, tmpbuf, &len, &tag) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Adapt to strange readlink() API: Copy up to bufsiz *bytes*, potentially
+	 * cutting off a UTF-8 sequence. Insufficient bufsize is *not* a failure
+	 * condition. There is no conversion function that produces invalid UTF-8,
+	 * so convert to a (hopefully large enough) temporary buffer, then memcpy
+	 * the requested number of bytes (including '\0' for robustness).
+	 */
+	memcpy(buf, tmpbuf, min(bufsiz, len + 1));
+	return min(bufsiz, len);
+}
+
 pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *status, int options)
 {
 	HANDLE h = OpenProcess(SYNCHRONIZE | PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION,
-- 
gitgitgadget
Previous: Karsten Blees via GitGitGadgetNext: Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget
Message 46 of 51 in “Support symbolic links on Windows”
  1. 00/18 Support symbolic links on WindowsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  2. 01/18 mingw: don't call `GetFileAttributes()` twice in `mingw_lstat()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  3. 02/18 mingw: implement `stat()` with symlink supportKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  4. 03/18 mingw: drop the separate `do_lstat()` functionKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  5. 04/18 mingw: let `mingw_lstat()` error early upon problems with reparse pointsKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  6. 05/18 mingw: teach dirent about symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  7. 06/18 mingw: compute the correct size for symlinks in `mingw_lstat()`Bill Zissimopoulos via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  8. 07/18 mingw: factor out the retry logicKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  9. 08/18 mingw: change default of `core.symlinks` to falseKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  10. 09/18 mingw: add symlink-specific error codesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  11. 10/18 mingw: handle symlinks to directories in `mingw_unlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  12. 11/18 mingw: support renaming symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  13. 12/18 mingw: allow `mingw_chdir()` to change to symlink-resolved directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  14. 13/18 mingw: implement `readlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  15. 14/18 mingw: implement basic `symlink()` functionality (file symlinks only)Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  16. 15/18 mingw: add support for symlinks to directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  17. 16/18 mingw: try to create symlinks without elevated permissionsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  18. 17/18 mingw: emulate `stat()` a little more faithfullyJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  19. 18/18 mingw: special-case index entries for symlinks with buggy sizeJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  20. Junio C HamanoDec 18, 2025
  21. Ben KnobleDec 18, 2025
  22. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  23. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  24. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  25. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  26. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  27. Johannes SixtDec 18, 2025
  28. Karsten BleesDec 18, 2025
  29. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  30. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  31. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  32. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2026
  33. 00/18 Support symbolic links on WindowsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  34. 01/18 mingw: don't call `GetFileAttributes()` twice in `mingw_lstat()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  35. 02/18 mingw: implement `stat()` with symlink supportKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  36. 03/18 mingw: drop the separate `do_lstat()` functionKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  37. 04/18 mingw: let `mingw_lstat()` error early upon problems with reparse pointsKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  38. 05/18 mingw: teach dirent about symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  39. 06/18 mingw: compute the correct size for symlinks in `mingw_lstat()`Bill Zissimopoulos via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  40. 07/18 mingw: factor out the retry logicKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  41. 08/18 mingw: change default of `core.symlinks` to falseKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  42. 09/18 mingw: add symlink-specific error codesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  43. 11/18 mingw: support renaming symlinksKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  44. 10/18 mingw: handle symlinks to directories in `mingw_unlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  45. 12/18 mingw: allow `mingw_chdir()` to change to symlink-resolved directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  46. 13/18 mingw: implement `readlink()`Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  47. 14/18 mingw: implement basic `symlink()` functionality (file symlinks only)Karsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  48. 15/18 mingw: add support for symlinks to directoriesKarsten Blees via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  49. 16/18 mingw: try to create symlinks without elevated permissionsJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  50. 17/18 mingw: emulate `stat()` a little more faithfullyJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026
  51. 18/18 mingw: special-case index entries for symlinks with buggy sizeJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 9, 2026

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.