Different behaviors when open symlink folder in VS Code

[jdneo]

• VSCode Version: 1.34.0 & 1.35.0 - insider
• OS Version: MacOS Mojave 10.14.5 & Fedora Workstation 30

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Prepare a folder as a workspace folder in VS Code, let's name it as demo
2. Generate a symlink for that folder: ln -s demo demolink
3. Open the symlink demolink in VS Code

Behavior on MacOS Mojave

The VS Code will open the folder demo as the workspace folder.

Behavior on Fedora

The VS Code will open the folder demolink as the workspace folder.

Because of the differences, some APIs calling behavior will become different as well. For example, when calling workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(uri).

[bpasero]

there should be no differences, help wanted to investigate + fix if possible 👍

[bpasero]

@jdneo I cannot reproduce, here is what I did

• followed your instructions how to get the linked folder
• from the command line type code demolink
• result:

[jdneo]

@bpasero it seems that you are using macos? Could you please try it on Fedora? I can repro it on Fedora 30

[bpasero]

@jdneo I do not see an issue with that, you are asking Code to open the link and it does. Do you expect to follow the symlink when opening?

[hunghw]

I can reproduce it. And I get the same result while opening files.

Step to reproduce:

1. touch demo.txt
2. ln -s demo.txt demolink.txt
3. open both of these files in vscode insider
   In debian: the file name on the editor will show demo.txt and demolink.txt respectively.
   In macos: both of these will show demo.txt
4. mv demolink.txt folder/
5. Open the demolink.txt in folder
   The file name will show demolink.txt in macos.

The issue might happen on macos.

[jdneo]

Hi @bpasero,

Sorry for the late reply. I was on vacation before.

Regarding the issue, actually, I'm not sure what's the right behavior should be. But the thing I've observed is that the name of the opened folder is not the same on Mac and Linux. Please let me know anything I can help to help you reproduce the issue.

[bpasero]

The right behaviour in VSCode is to not follow the symlink but actually open it as instructed by the user. However this probably also depends on how the file was opened, e.g. from a native dialog or not.

@hwhung0111 @jdneo thanks for providing steps, but you are missing to tell me how you actually open the file. Just to give an example, here are various ways how you can open files in VSCode:

• from the command line directly
• from File > Open
• from the VSCode explorer by clicking on it
• via quick open when typing the name of the file

[jdneo]

I see. For me, I'm using File > Open to open the symlink.

[hunghw]

I also open from File > Open. For me, macos don't have the same behavior even I open the same symlink.

[vscodebot]

This issue is being closed to keep the number of issues in our inbox on a manageable level, we are closing issues that are not going to be addressed in the foreseeable future: We look at the number of votes the issue has received and the number of duplicate issues filed. More details here. If you disagree and feel that this issue is crucial: We are happy to listen and to reconsider.

If you wonder what we are up to, please see our roadmap and issue reporting guidelines.

Thanks for your understanding and happy coding!

[jdneo]

Hi @bpasero,

Can we re-open this issue? I have several users who have encountered the same problem. It would be great if VS Code can fix this.

[bpasero]

I do not think VSCode can do anything because we get the path from the system dialog and do nothing with it. I suspect platform differences here with the path we get back from the system dialog via Electron.

[Spongman]

this is a disaster, it completely messes up the git panel. .gitignore handling is broken, all the changed paths are listed as absolute paths. unusable.

[amgodoi]

Hi @jdneo

As a workaround you could open the folder from command line:

$ code .

I got the same behavior described for @bpasero and it is system dialog dependent. My system is using "GtkFileChooserDialog" to open files and directories ... I have a lot o problems with other applications too. I am Using ubuntu 22.04 with gtk4 and I think this is the problem ... gtk4 is not working properly yet.

[zachary-wang12]

The same issue happened on

Linux Debian 6.1.67-1 (2023-12-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux

I'm using vscode tunnel to develop java project.

The application could run as formal, but when test, it shows the error.

[zachary-wang12]

The same issue happened on

Linux code-capsule 6.1.0-16-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.67-1 (2023-12-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux

I'm using vscode tunnel to develop java project.

The application could run as formal, but when test, it shows the error.

I found an interesting thing during duplicating this issue:

• Server:

  • Vscode CLI 1.85.1 (commitee: 0ee08df)
  • OS Version: Debian 6.1.67-1 (2023-12-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux
  • Test Runner for Java: v0.40.1

• Test Client1:

  • Client: Microsoft Edge (120.0.2210.91 (64 bits))
  • OS Version: Windows 11 Professional 23H2

• Test Client2:

  • Client: Visual Studio Code 1.85.1 (commitee: 0ee08df)
  • OS Version: Same as test client 1

Tested project is a simple project built by spring initializr and just add spring web as dependency.

There is no error shown when I connect the tunnel from test client 2 (using VS Code), and all things going as normal. However, when I connect the tunnel from test client 1 (using vscode.dev/tunnel/my-tunnel), this issue happened.

BTW, the test project wasn't use symlink, but directly opened by:

• File -> Open Folder...

Hope these info could help someone to figure this out~ @bpasero @jdneo