URIs and Filenames

Inkscape's handling of URIs and Filenames is a complete mess!

• What some variable names claim to be URIs are actually filenames and visa-versa.
• There is a lot of code duplication. (e.g. src/io/dir-utils.cpp and src/xml/rebase-hrefs.cpp).

To do

• Put all our own URI and Filename handling code in src/io (or at least list in README in that directory).
• Convert all routines to use:
  • std::string (byte string) for file names and paths.
  • Glib::ustring (unicode string) for URIs
• Rely on Glib functions where possible. Glib functions handle many of the WIN32/LINUX/MAC issues automatically.
  • Use Gio::File class.
  • Use Glib utility and conversion functions (see below).
• Remove 'sodipodi-absref' as this leaks user directory information.
• Clarify whether/when to use these classes:
  • Inkscape::URI
  • Inkscape::IO::UriInputStream

Notes

• URIs should always use '/'. You cannot use Glib filename functions to handle URIs as they will use '/' or '\' depending on operating system.
• Use relative paths (URIs!) where possible as this allows moving documents with resources together.

glibmm Documentation

Misc. Utility Functions

bool Glib::path_is_absolute (const std::string& filename)

Returns true if the given filename is an absolute file name, i.e. it contains a full path from the root directory such as "/usr/local" on UNIX or "C:\\windows" on Windows systems. More...

std::string Glib::path_skip_root (const std::string& filename)

Returns the remaining part of filename after the root component, i.e. after the "/" on UNIX or "C:\\" on Windows. More...

std::string Glib::path_get_basename (const std::string& filename)

Gets the name of the file without any leading directory components. More...

std::string Glib::path_get_dirname (const std::string& filename)

Gets the directory components of a file name. More...

std::string Glib::build_filename (const Glib::ArrayHandle< std::string >& elements)

Creates a filename from a series of elements using the correct separator for filenames. More...

std::string Glib::build_filename (const std::string& elem1, const std::string& elem2)

Creates a filename from two elements using the correct separator for filenames. More...

std::string Glib::build_filename (const std::string& elem1, const std::string& elem2, const std::string& elem3)

Creates a filename from three elements using the correct separator for filenames. More...

etc.

Conversions

Glib::ustring Glib::filename_to_utf8 (const std::string& opsys_string)

Converts a string which is in the encoding used for filenames into a UTF-8 string.

std::string Glib::filename_from_utf8 (const Glib::ustring& utf8_string)

Converts a string from UTF-8 to the encoding used for filenames.

std::string Glib::filename_from_uri (const Glib::ustring& uri, Glib::ustring& hostname)

Converts an escaped UTF-8 encoded URI to a local filename in the encoding used for filenames.

std::string Glib::filename_from_uri (const Glib::ustring& uri)

Converts an escaped UTF-8 encoded URI to a local filename in the encoding used for filenames.

Glib::ustring Glib::filename_to_uri (const std::string& filename, const Glib::ustring& hostname)

Converts an absolute filename to an escaped UTF-8 encoded URI.

Glib::ustring Glib::filename_to_uri (const std::string& filename)

Converts an absolute filename to an escaped UTF-8 encoded URI.

Glib::ustring Glib::filename_display_basename (const std::string& filename)

Returns the display basename for the particular filename, guaranteed to be valid UTF-8.

Glib::ustring Glib::filename_display_name (const std::string& filename)

Converts a filename into a valid UTF-8 string.