File should support "strictly case sensitive" mode for file name/path matching

Name: gm110360 Date: 05/12/2004


A DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST :
Just has java has -Xfuture mode to impose more strict access restrictions and such, it should also have a "strictly case sensitive" mode of file name and path matching. When such a mode is enabled on OS's such as Windows or MacOS,
case errors would result in failures, even if they would otherwise
be forgiven by the underlying filesystem.


JUSTIFICATION :
This would avoid deployment failures where Java programs worked on Windows or MacOS, but then failed on Solaris or other OS'es where the only problem was an undetected case-matching error between an internal file name and the external file name. If developers had this feature available and used it, they could catch case errors even if they did not have access to fully case-sensitive
filesystems.


CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Case errors in typical resource loading can be checked by insisting that all resources be in jar files which, of course, do fail on case errors. But any files accessed directly via java.io.File can only be tested on platforms that have case-sensitive filesystems (again, Solaris, etc.). Deployed applications with such errors can often be repaired by simply renaming the files, but many sensitive sites might consider such modifications as unacceptable.
(Incident Review ID: 238198)
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