[SVN-4478] Checked-out files are not indexed by Windows Search

• Type: Bug
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Affects Version/s: 1.8.x
• Fix Version/s: ---
• Component/s: libsvn_wc

Environment

Windows 7

• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Subversion Importer
• Created: 12/Mar/14 14:15
• Updated: 10/Oct/18 08:07

Description

(I've seen this on Windows 7 with svn 1.7.5 and on Windows 8 with svn 1.8.3, but I believe the problem affects every version of Subversion from 1.7 onwards. I have no idea whether P3 is right; I'm just accepting the default and it surely isn't my job to set priorities anyway.)

It appears that files checked out using Subversion (1.7 onwards) are marked as not indexable by Windows search. I think the way in which this happens is as follows:

When the WC is created:

1. .svn directory is created, and marked as hidden and not indexable.
2. .svn/tmp directory is created, and inherits that not-indexable property. (Or maybe it's given it explicitly; I haven't checked.)

On checkout:

1. Temporary file is created under .svn, and accordingly gets its not-indexable flag set.
2. Temporary file is moved to its proper location; this doesn't cause the not-indexable flag to be cleared.

So the point is that the NOT_CONTENT_INDEXABLE attribute on a directory doesn't exactly mean "don't search inside this directory"
but "make files created in this directory searchable". Then when they get moved elsewhere they retain that unsearchability.

If skeptical, you can see this "by hand" on a Windows machine, as follows:

1. Create a directory A and subdirectory A\B.
2. Right-click on B, select "Properties", select "Advanced", uncheck the allow-indexing box.
3. Create two files A\B\C.txt and A\B\D.txt and put the word "wombat" in each.
4. Now right-click D.txt, select "Properties", select "Advanced", and check the allow-indexing box; and drag C.txt out of A\B and into A.
5. Now, in A, search for "wombat" using Windows Search.
6. It will find D.txt even though it's in the unsearchable folder A\B, and it will not find C.txt even though it's in the searchable folder A, because what actually matters is the attributes on the files.

I am not familiar with the code responsible for this, but a little browsing suggests that the rename is being done in svn_stream__install_stream (in libsvn_subr/stream.c; called from run_file_install in libsvn_wc/workqueue.c) by a call to SetFileInformationByHandle, and that this function is capable of changing the file attributes at the same time as doing the rename. I make no claim that this would actually be a good solution.

Original issue reported by gareth_mccaughan

Issue Links

• relates to: SVN-4432 Respecting inherited Windows file permissions on file create