os.readlink() doco snafu?

[JBW]

English is my first language, but I doesn't be very good at it.

I was trying to endow my symlinked python module with the ability to
divine where it actually resides when I came across os.readlink(),
documented at http://docs.python.org/lib/os-file-dir.html

I'm not sure readlink() lives up to its documentation. To wit:

$ touch bar # Create an empty file
$ ln -s bar foo # And a symlink to it.
$ python
Python 2.5.1 <... Herald "the snitch" Redacted ...>
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>import os, os.path
path = "foo"
result = os.readlink(path)
result

'bar'

>>abspath = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(path), result)
os.path.isabs(abspath)

False

>>abspath

'bar'

The result makes sense, but it belies the documentation. Should I report
this? Or is there another plausible interpretation?

[Fredrik Lundh]

JBW wrote:

I'm not sure readlink() lives up to its documentation. To wit:

$ touch bar # Create an empty file
$ ln -s bar foo # And a symlink to it.
$ python
Python 2.5.1 <... Herald "the snitch" Redacted ...>
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>>import os, os.path
path = "foo"
result = os.readlink(path)
result

'bar'

>>>abspath = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(path), result)
os.path.isabs(abspath)

False

>>>abspath

'bar'

The result makes sense, but it belies the documentation. Should I report
this? Or is there another plausible interpretation?

the part about joining with dirname(path) assumes that you pass in an
absolute path to the readlink function.

</F>

[Miles]

Fredrik Lundh wrote:

JBW wrote:

>I'm not sure readlink() lives up to its documentation. ...
The result makes sense, but it belies the documentation. Should I report
this? Or is there another plausible interpretation?

the part about joining with dirname(path) assumes that you pass in an
absolute path to the readlink function.

That documentation should probably say, "if it is relative, it may be
converted to a pathname valid from the current working directory using
...."

-Miles