How to copy Symbolic link from linux to Windows

[Mini Singh]

Hello Friends
I had built a library on Linux.
Now i want to copy the lib folder containing symbolic links to windows.
but when i copied those to windows each link is getting exactly the same memory as the original one.
For Example:
On Linux
lrwxrwxrwx 1 msingh named 18 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so -> libicudata.so.
36.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 msingh named 18 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so.36 -> libicudata.
so.36.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 msingh named 10153924 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so.36.0

On Windows
-rwx------+ 1 msingh ???????? 10153924 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so
-rwx------+ 1 msingh ???????? 10153924 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so.36
-rwx------+ 1 msingh ???????? 10153924 Mar 14 16:58 libicudata.so.36.0

How can i rectify this problem.

[Motoma]

This is the way it was intended to work. Windows doesn't support the use of symbolic links for files. If you are using a program such as FTP, instead of copying the link, the program will read the file (as symlinks are supposed to behave) and correctly upload the file it points to.
I may have a way to work around this, however, I would need to know more information about your usage of Windows and Linux, the programs you are using, and the reasons for copying the symlink itself.

[Mini Singh]

This is the way it was intended to work. Windows doesn't support the use of symbolic links for files. If you are using a program such as FTP, instead of copying the link, the program will read the file (as symlinks are supposed to behave) and correctly upload the file it points to.
I may have a way to work around this, however, I would need to know more information about your usage of Windows and Linux, the programs you are using, and the reasons for copying the symlink itself.

Hello Motoma
I am aware of the fact that windows doesn't support Symbolic links.
Actually I had built a ICU (International component for Unicode) library on linux as well as on windows.
But now i have to provide a directory for distribution to all platforms.
In that case i need to copy the lib folder from linux to windows to make that directory(for distribution) a full fledge one.
But it is not copying the link as it is as it was in linux.
if you have some solution.. then please let me know.
I have searched all through the net but i am getting only one answer that it doesn't support.

[Motoma]

One solution would be to copy the actual file that the link is pointing to.

Hello Motoma
I am aware of the fact that windows doesn't support Symbolic links.
Actually I had built a ICU (International component for Unicode) library on linux as well as on windows.
But now i have to provide a directory for distribution to all platforms.
In that case i need to copy the lib folder from linux to windows to make that directory(for distribution) a full fledge one.
But it is not copying the link as it is as it was in linux.
if you have some solution.. then please let me know.
I have searched all through the net but i am getting only one answer that it doesn't support.

[Mini Singh]

One solution would be to copy the actual file that the link is pointing to.

Hi Motoma
Are you aware of any other solution for the problem of copying symbolic links from linux to windows.
If yes than please let me know.

~Mini Singh

[Motoma]

I might be able to help more if you elaborate on the setup of your machine(s). Where is the windows partition in relation to the linux partition? Are they in the same machine? Are you using a system such as SMB or NFS to mount the partition, or are you using a tool such as FTP to place the files on the windows partition?

[Mini Singh]

I might be able to help more if you elaborate on the setup of your machine(s). Where is the windows partition in relation to the linux partition? Are they in the same machine? Are you using a system such as SMB or NFS to mount the partition, or are you using a tool such as FTP to place the files on the windows partition?

Linux Partition is not on the same machine.My login is mounted on linux.I connect to that machine through my login.i.e i am using NFS to mount the partiton.
Now after building that library on linux i need to copy the lib folders from 'Linux to Windows and here the problem arises.

If you need more explanation then let me know.

[Motoma]

You will not be able to create symbolic links on your Windows partition. You will have to deal with three copies of the file, or change your files to link against the original.

I am curious, what libraries are these, and what are you trying to accomplish by putting them on a Windows partition? Surely you will not be able to compile against them from Windows, and if you are merely trying to move them while preserving the structure you could use tar which will preserve the symlinks.

[anaser]

hello Motoma,

can you help me about following problem-



I am trying to compile openoffice.org in windows. I am using cygwin. When I give ./configure command then following message displayed-


************************************************** ******************
* *
* OpenOffice.org build configuration. *
* *
* The configure process checks your platform to see whether *
* you can build OpenOffice.org on it. *
* This process checks all pre-requisites and generates a file *
* containing the necessary environment variables. *
* Source this file after configure has ended successfully. *
* *
* Any warning that is generated during the configure process *
* must be taken into account since it can be a reason for *
* an unsuccessful build of OpenOffice.org *
* *
************************************************** ******************

************************************************** ******************
* *
* Checking the platform pre-requisites. *
* *
************************************************** ******************

checking for egrep... grep -E
checking for gawk... gawk
checking for gawk... /usr/bin/gawk
checking for sed... /usr/bin/sed
checking for solenv environment... default
checking build system type... i686-pc-cygwin
checking host system type... i686-pc-cygwin
checking target system type... i686-pc-cygwin
cygwin
checking Cygwin version... 1.7.5(0.225/5/3)
checking whether to enable crashdump feature... no
checking whether to use the standard non-optimizing compiler... no
checking whether to turn warnings to errors... no
checking whether to do a debug build... no
checking whether to build with additional debug utilities... no, full product bu
ild
checking whether to include symbols into final build... no
checking whether to strip the solver or not.... checking whether to enable nativ
e CUPS support... no
checking whether to enable fontconfig support... no
checking whether to enable filters for legacy binary file formats (StarOffice 5.
2)... yes
checking whether to use DirectX... yes
checking whether to use ActiveX... yes
checking whether to use ATL... yes
checking whether to use RPATH in shared libraries... yes
checking whether to include MySpell dictionaries... yes
checking which shell to use... configure: error: /usr/bin/gawk, awk, tar or gunz
ip is a cygwin symlink!
Native windows programs cannot use cygwin symlinks. Remove the symbolic
link, and copy the program to the name of the link.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found several solution in net and already implemented all but still facing the problem.

For example::I triyed with

cd /bin
rm awk.exe
cp gawk.exe awk.exe

and also for

gzip.exe / gunzip.exe;

For tar when I am running-

$ ls -l /bin/tar.exe

it shows-

-rwxr-xr-x 1 Naser root 317454 2010-06-29 18:48 /bin/tar.exe

followings are also installed-

Archive::Zip
XML::Parser
URI
LWP::UserAgent
Crypt::SSLeay
SOAP::Lite


I get stacked with the above error, please help me.



thanks.