FIX: Resolve paths with non-ASCII characters in Windows#376
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bewithgaurav merged 16 commits intomainfrom Jan 6, 2026
Merged
FIX: Resolve paths with non-ASCII characters in Windows#376bewithgaurav merged 16 commits intomainfrom
bewithgaurav merged 16 commits intomainfrom
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…characters (#370) Root cause: On Windows, paths containing non-ASCII characters (e.g., usernames like 'Thalén' with 'é') were being corrupted due to: 1. GetModuleDirectory() using ANSI APIs (char[], PathRemoveFileSpecA) 2. LoadDriverLibrary() using broken UTF-8→UTF-16 conversion via std::wstring(path.begin(), path.end()) 3. LoadDriverOrThrowException() using same broken pattern for mssql-auth.dll Fix: Use std::filesystem::path which properly handles encoding on all platforms. On Windows, fs::path::c_str() returns wchar_t* with correct UTF-16 encoding. This fix enables users with non-ASCII characters in their Windows username or installation path to use Entra ID authentication successfully.
Add comprehensive tests for the non-ASCII path encoding fix:
1. Default tests (cross-platform):
- Verify module import exercises path handling code
- Test UTF-8 string operations with international characters
- Test pathlib with non-ASCII directory names
2. Windows-specific tests:
- Verify DLL loading succeeds
- Verify libs directory structure
3. Integration tests (Windows only, ~2-4 min total):
- Create venv in paths with Swedish (Thalén), German (Müller),
Japanese (日本語), and Chinese (中文) characters
- Install mssql-python and verify import succeeds
These tests ensure the fs::path fix for LoadLibraryW works correctly
for users with non-ASCII characters in their Windows username.
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Mark 4 tests as @pytest.mark.stress (skipped by default per pytest.ini): - test_aggressive_dbc_segfault_reproduction: 10 real DB connections - test_force_gc_finalization_order_issue: 10 connections + 5 GC cycles - test_rapid_connection_churn_with_shutdown: 10 connections with churn - test_active_connections_thread_safety: 200 mock connections + 10 threads These tests are resource-intensive and slow down CI. They will still run when explicitly requested with 'pytest -m stress' or 'pytest -m ""'.
📊 Code Coverage Report
Diff CoverageDiff: main...HEAD, staged and unstaged changes
Summary
📋 Files Needing Attention📉 Files with overall lowest coverage (click to expand)mssql_python.pybind.logger_bridge.hpp: 58.8%
mssql_python.pybind.logger_bridge.cpp: 59.2%
mssql_python.row.py: 66.2%
mssql_python.helpers.py: 67.5%
mssql_python.pybind.ddbc_bindings.cpp: 69.4%
mssql_python.pybind.ddbc_bindings.h: 71.7%
mssql_python.pybind.connection.connection.cpp: 73.6%
mssql_python.ddbc_bindings.py: 79.6%
mssql_python.pybind.connection.connection_pool.cpp: 79.6%
mssql_python.connection.py: 83.9%🔗 Quick Links
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Pull request overview
This pull request fixes a critical bug (Issue #370) where the mssql-python driver failed to load when installed in paths containing non-ASCII characters on Windows, such as usernames like "Thalén" or directories with accented characters. The fix refactors path handling to use C++17's std::filesystem for proper cross-platform UTF-8 path support.
Key changes:
- Replaced platform-specific path manipulation code with
std::filesystem::pathfor unified, encoding-aware path handling - Fixed UTF-8 to UTF-16 conversion on Windows by using
fs::path::c_str()instead of incorrectstd::wstring(path.begin(), path.end())conversion - Added comprehensive test suite covering UTF-8 path handling with real-world non-ASCII characters (Swedish, German, Japanese, Chinese, etc.)
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 13 comments.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| mssql_python/pybind/ddbc_bindings.cpp | Refactored GetModuleDirectory(), LoadDriverLibrary(), and LoadDriverOrThrowException() to use std::filesystem::path for proper UTF-8 encoding on all platforms, with correct UTF-16 conversion on Windows |
| tests/test_015_utf8_path_handling.py | Added comprehensive test coverage including code path verification tests, non-ASCII string handling tests, Windows-specific tests, and full integration tests with virtual environments in non-ASCII paths |
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Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
jahnvi480
approved these changes
Jan 5, 2026
gargsaumya
approved these changes
Jan 6, 2026
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Work Item / Issue Reference
Summary
This pull request refactors the way file system paths are handled in the
mssql_python/pybind/ddbc_bindings.cppfile to use C++17'sstd::filesystemfor improved cross-platform compatibility and proper handling of UTF-8 paths. The changes simplify and unify path manipulation logic, especially for dynamic library loading, and ensure correct encoding is used on all platforms.Cross-platform and encoding improvements:
GetModuleDirectory()withstd::filesystem::pathto extract the module directory in a cross-platform and UTF-8 safe manner. This removes the need for separate Windows and Unix/macOS code paths.fs::path::c_str(), which provides a correctly encodedwchar_t*forLoadLibraryW, ensuring proper handling of UTF-8 paths. This change is applied both inLoadDriverLibraryand when loadingmssql-auth.dllinLoadDriverOrThrowException(). [1] [2]