Audit `norm_case` usage and consider separating path normalization responsibilities

[karthiknadig]

Background

As part of fixing #186 (Windows junctions not properly resolved), we replaced fs::canonicalize() with GetLongPathNameW in norm_case() to avoid resolving junctions/symlinks.

During this fix, we discovered that norm_case() was doing more than just case normalization - it was also:

1. Converting relative paths to absolute paths
2. Stripping trailing path separators (to match canonicalize behavior)
3. Normalizing case

Current State

The function is defined in crates/pet-fs/src/path.rs and is called from ~20+ locations across the codebase:

• crates/pet-conda/src/environment_locations.rs
• crates/pet-poetry/src/environment_locations.rs
• crates/pet-windows-store/src/environments.rs
• crates/pet-pipenv/src/lib.rs
• crates/pet-global-virtualenvs/src/lib.rs
• crates/pet-python-utils/src/fs_cache.rs
• crates/pet-windows-registry/src/environments.rs
• And more...

Concern

The Windows Registry stores paths with trailing backslashes (e.g., C:\...\x64\). The old fs::canonicalize() silently stripped these. When we switched to GetLongPathNameW, we had to explicitly add trailing slash stripping to maintain backward compatibility.

This raises questions:

1. Should path sources (like Windows Registry) sanitize their own output?
2. Should norm_case() be split into separate functions with clear responsibilities?
3. Are there other implicit behaviors from canonicalize() that callers depend on?

Suggested Audit Tasks

• Review all norm_case() call sites to understand what each caller actually needs
• Consider splitting into focused functions:
  • normalize_case() - Just case normalization
  • normalize_path() - Full path normalization (relative→absolute, trailing slashes, case)
• Evaluate if path sources (Registry, conda rc files, etc.) should sanitize their own data
• Add documentation for expected behavior

Related

• PR fix Windows-specific path normalization using GetLongPathNameW #277 - Original fix for junction resolution

[karthiknadig]

I had this bug and I had the repo for this.