> I don't think we should assume Cygwin, but I like the idea of using C:\.
> Probably this should be qualified by a user name so that hubs of multiple
> users do not interfere with each other (or is multiple simultaneous
> users on the same machine effectively impossible on Windows?).
> Can any Windows experts comment on whether this might be problematic,
> e.g. is C:\ always present and writable?
No, it isn't. Usually the System Drive is C: but it could be different (although very rarely). Then, instead of using the Windows Registry, I would put the lock file in the Windows counterpart of UNIX $HOME, that is the %USERPROFILE% environment variable. %USERPROFILE% should be available since Windows NT4 and 2000 and points to
{System Drive}:\windows\Profile under Windows NT4 and 2000
{System Drive}\Documents and Settings\{username} under Window XP
{System Drive}\Users\{username} under Windows Vista
(I verified only Windows XP).
So the developer has only to test the existence of the environment variable HOME and/or USERPROFILE, and then s/he can handle the lock file exactly in the same way, using the suitable path.
This is just another possibility.
Cheers,
Luigi Received on 2008-05-13Z17:50:11