#10822: GHC inconsistently handles \\?\ for long paths on Windows -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: snoyberg | Owner: Type: bug | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Compiler | Version: 7.10.2 Keywords: | Operating System: Windows Architecture: | Type of failure: None/Unknown Unknown/Multiple | Test Case: | Blocked By: Blocking: | Related Tickets: Differential Revisions: | -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- To demonstrate what I mean first: {{{
ghc-pkg init \\?\c:\Users\michael\Desktop\some-pkg-db dir \\?\c:\Users\Michael\Desktop\some-pkg-db Volume in drive \\?\c: is Windows8_OS Volume Serial Number is CEF7-874D
ghc -package-db \\?\c:\Users\Michael\Desktop\some-pkg-db ghc: can't find a package database at \\?\c:\Users\Michael\Desktop\some-
Directory of \\?\c:\Users\Michael\Desktop\some-pkg-db 09/01/2015 09:38 AM <DIR> . 09/01/2015 09:38 AM <DIR> .. 09/01/2015 09:38 AM 40 package.cache 1 File(s) 40 bytes 2 Dir(s) 5,907,509,248 bytes free pkg-db }}} The problem: on Windows by default, paths are limited to 260 characters, which can become a real problem in practice when dealing with the standard library path hierarchy the Cabal library uses and any package with a decent name length. This was a real problem in practice, see: https://github.com/haskell/cabal/issues/2502 Windows has a workaround for this: you can prefix an absolute path with \\?\, see: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/windows/desktop/aa365247%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#maxpath It would be very useful if such paths worked with GHC, but currently they do not. I don't yet know how deep the problem is. -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/10822 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler