Working with Symbolic Links

Yes, you can check if a path is a symbolic link using std::filesystem by employing the is_symlink() method.

This method is part of the std::filesystem library and can determine if a given path represents a symbolic link. Here's an example:

1#include <filesystem>
2#include <iostream>
3namespace fs = std::filesystem;
4
5int main() {
6  fs::path symlink_path{R"(c:\test\symlink)"};  
7  try {
8    if (fs::is_symlink(symlink_path)) {
9      std::cout
10        << "The path is a symbolic link";  
11    } else {
12      std::cout
13        << "The path is not a symbolic link";
14    }
15  } catch (fs::filesystem_error &e) {
16    std::cerr << e.what();
17  }
18}

1The path is a symbolic link

In this example:

• We define symlink_path as the path we want to check.
• We use fs::is_symlink() to check if symlink_path is a symbolic link and print the result.

Just like other std::filesystem operations, is_symlink() can throw exceptions if there are issues accessing the path, such as if it does not exist or if there are permission issues.

Thus, it's good practice to include error handling with a try and catch block to catch and display any fs::filesystem_error exceptions.

If you want to create a symbolic link for testing purposes, you can use the create_symlink() function provided by std::filesystem:

1#include <filesystem>
2#include <iostream>
3
4namespace fs = std::filesystem;
5
6int main() {
7  fs::path target{R"(c:\test\file.txt)"}; 
8  fs::path symlink_path{R"(c:\test\symlink)"}; 
9  try {
10    fs::create_symlink(target, symlink_path);
11    std::cout << "Symbolic link created\n"; 
12  } catch (fs::filesystem_error &e) {
13    std::cerr << e.what() << '\n';
14  }
15}

1Symbolic link created

In this example:

• We define target as the path to the target file.
• We define symlink_path as the path where we want to create the symbolic link.
• We use fs::create_symlink() to create the symbolic link and print a confirmation message.

Always ensure you have appropriate permissions to create symbolic links on your system, as some operating systems may restrict this capability.