Simplify metadata/file-type handling in filesystem::primitives - #14356
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alexcrichton merged 1 commit intoSep 21, 2026
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Avoid unwrapping structures into a shape only to re-wrap them later on into a WASI-defined shape. Instead remove various extension traits and shuffling of fields and instead use an `enum` for the definitions of `Metadata` and `FileType` which are either standard library types or rustix-based types. Accessors then delegate to the appropriate fields depending on how the data lies at rest. The goal here is to remove layer of cognitive indirection where there's a platform-specific source of truth for the underlying data. Accessors where a specific type is requested or a particular operation is where the interpretation of the underlying data happens then. Note that the reason that `std::fs::Metadata` alone isn't sufficient is that the Rust standard library doesn't bind functions like `statat` and there's no way to create a `std::fs::Metadata` externally from the standard library, hence the Unix-specific layer where metadata might be `std::fs::Metadata` and might be `rustix::fs::Stat`.
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Avoid unwrapping structures into a shape only to re-wrap them later on into a WASI-defined shape. Instead remove various extension traits and shuffling of fields and instead use an
enumfor the definitions ofMetadataandFileTypewhich are either standard library types or rustix-based types. Accessors then delegate to the appropriate fields depending on how the data lies at rest.The goal here is to remove layer of cognitive indirection where there's a platform-specific source of truth for the underlying data. Accessors where a specific type is requested or a particular operation is where the interpretation of the underlying data happens then.
Note that the reason that
std::fs::Metadataalone isn't sufficient is that the Rust standard library doesn't bind functions likestatatand there's no way to create astd::fs::Metadataexternally from the standard library, hence the Unix-specific layer where metadata might bestd::fs::Metadataand might berustix::fs::Stat.