System.FilePath module

[Isaac Jones]

Greetings.

Back in October, there was a discussion on the System.FilePath module
that's currently the hidden module Distribution.Compat.FilePath in
Cabal:

http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/libraries/2004-October/002591.html

It was decided that we should not include it as System.FilePath
because it was insufficiently consistent, had some confusing corner
cases, and some folks felt that FilePath should be an abstract type.

A number of people would like to use the FilePath module as it is, and
someone has even packaged it up separately, so I think we should move
forward in building a module that performs this task.

For those who objected at the time, can someone put together a list of
requirements for the FilePath module you believe we need? (Perhaps on
the Wiki?)

FWIW, the module we have is very similar to the SML and Python modules
which perform this task, and most likely very similar to other
languages' modules.  In short, I think this approach works in
practice, but not in theory, as Lemmih said on IRC ;)


peace,

  isaac