Hello everybody,

The file dialogs of Vista do not recognize directory symbolic links as
folders but as files. To demonstrate, run the following commands:

1. Start cmd as Administrator and execute the following commands:

2. cd \Users\Public
3. mkdir TestFolder
4. mkdir TestSubfolder
5. cd TestFolder
6. mklink /D TestSubfolder \\computername\Public\TestSubfolder

7. Start Textpad:

8. Select menu Open file
9. Navigate in dialog to \Public\TestFolder
10. Double-click TestSubfolder

The last action results in the following error message:

You don't have permission to open file.

Also, changing ownership of the shortcut does not change the situation. A
similar result can be observed trying the Save file dialog, which tries to
replace the directory symbolic link.

Windows Explorer on the other hand recognizes directory symbolic links
properly as folders.

Surely, this cannot be the intended behavior of the file dialog?
Is there any solution?

Kind regards, Bjorn