How do I resolve a canonical filename in Windows?

Question

If I have a string that resolves to a file path in Windows, is there an accepted way to get a canonical form of the file name?

For example, I'd like to know whether

C:\stuff\things\etc\misc\whatever.txt

and

C:\stuff\things\etc\misc\other\..\whatever.txt

actually point to the same file or not, and store the canonical form of the path in my application.

Note that simple string comparisons won't work, nor will any RegEx magic. Remember that we have things like NTFS reparse points to deal with since Windows 2000 and the new Libraries structure in Windows 7.

Answer 1

GetFinalPathNameByHandle appears to do what your asking for, which is available starting with Windows Vista.