XEmacs 21.4.19: Problem with customized folders on Windows XP

[Tony Freixas]

stephen at xemacs.org wrote:

> Antonio Freixas writes:
>
>  > On Windows XP, if you choose to customize a folder (say, by setting a
>  > special icon for it), the folder becomes read-only. Except it's not,
>  > really. I can still create, delete and edit files in the folder.
>
> IIRC this is due to a difference in the Unix and Windows models of
> access control.  The readonly property of a folder means something
> different in Windows.  I'll try to get the archives restored (but it
> will probably have to wait 'til next week) so you can search for the
> old traffic (IIRC it first came up with Windows 2000!)

Thanks, Steven. I started poking around the current archives, but
couldn't find a search function. Would I be looking for the xemacs-nt
archive once you restore the archives?

> > Does anyone know of any work-around?
>
> With Win2k IIRC you could change the permissions on the folder to
> something that XEmacs could deal with.

OK. So far, all I've found is that if I turn off the read-only setting
on the folder, XEmacs works but I lose the customization.

The right solution is to fix XEmacs to recognize the Windows access
control model. I have the source code for XEmacs but have never tried
working with it--if someone could point me to the right modules to look
at, I could try to fix this. If this is a nasty problem to fix, let me know.

adrian at xemacs.org wrote:

> I don't understand the above.
>
> Please describe along those lines:
>
> - What happened.
> - What you thought should have happened.
> - Precisely what you were doing at the time.

I'm sorry to have confused you Adrian. Let me try to restate the problem.

On Windows XP, I try to create a new file using C-X f and specifying a
file name that doesn't exist. If the directory in which the file is to
be created is "customized", XEmacs says "File not found and directory
write-protected". The directory is actually not write-protected and
XEmacs should have created the file. XEmacs can read and write any other
file in the directory.

In Windows XP, you customize a directory by right-clicking on it and
selecting "Properties".  A Customize tab will appear in the Properties
dialog. One option is to change the icon used for the directory. I use
this feature all the time to help me quickly identify or locate certain
folders. The side effect of this operation is that it makes the
directory read-only. As Steven points out, this means something
different on Windows than on Unix.