nodejs / nodejs/node

Tracking issue: `std::filesystem::path` headaches, and breakage on Windows with non-ASCII paths

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fs never-stale windows
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Description

Version

v24.1.0

Platform
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64
Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Couldn't find a tracking issue for this one.

There are places in the source that handle std::filesystem::path objects, and on Windows, this involves conversion between UTF-8 strings and wchar-based paths. This can lead to path corruption, as previously discussed.

One example of this is #56049, which has an open PR to fix this specific usage. However, #58764 has just been reported, which affects a completely different area of the API. There are other examples of usage elsewhere in the source.

It feels like this probably needs a library-wide approach – even if not removing std::filesystem::path entirely as previously discussed, then at least some sort of internal wrapper API to abstract out potential footguns.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing #56049 and #58764, then search the source for other std::filesystem::path usage. Done requires an agreed library-wide approach for handling Windows path conversions and resolution of the affected usages, including those examples.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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