GNU bug report logs - #12365
Incorrect return value of cp with no-clobber option

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From: Anoop Sharma <sendtoanoop <at> gmail.com>
To: 12365 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#12365: closed (Re: Should cp -n return 0, when DEST exists?)
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 11:51:14 +0530

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 8:03 PM, GNU bug Tracking System
<help-debbugs <at> gnu.org> wrote:
> Your bug report
>
> #12365: Incorrect return value of cp with no-clobber option
>
> which was filed against the coreutils package, has been closed.
>
> The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
> If you require more details, please reply to 12365 <at> debbugs.gnu.org.
>
> --
> 12365: http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=12365
> GNU Bug Tracking System
> Contact help-debbugs <at> gnu.org with problems
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
> To: Anoop Sharma <sendtoanoop <at> gmail.com>
> Cc: 12365-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org, coreutils <coreutils <at> gnu.org>
> Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:31:53 -0600
> Subject: Re: Should cp -n return 0, when DEST exists?
> tag 12365 wontfix
> thanks
>
> On 09/06/2012 04:50 AM, Anoop Sharma wrote:
>> When -n option of cp is used and the DEST file exists, then, as
>> expected, cp is not able to copy the SOURCE to DEST.
>>
>> However, cp returns 0 in this case.
>
> cp -n is not mandated by POSIX, so we are free to do as we wish here.
> But looking at history, we added -n for coreutils 7.1 in Feb 2009, and
> the mail from that thread includes:
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-coreutils/2008-12/msg00159.html
>
> which states we are modeling after FreeBSD.  A quick check on my FreeBSD
> 8.2 VM shows:
>
> $ echo one > bar
> $ echo two > blah
> $ cp -n blah bar
> $ echo $?
> 0
> $ cat bar
> one
>
> that FreeBSD also returns 0 in this case, and I don't want to break
> interoperability.  Therefore, I'm going to close this as a WONTFIX,
> unless you also get buy-in from the BSD folks.
>
> By the way, there's no need to post three separate emails with the same
> contents, without first waiting at least 24 hours.  Like most other
> moderated GNU lists, you do not have to be a subscriber to post, and
> even if you are a subscriber, your first post to a given list will be
> held in a moderation queue for as long as it takes for a human to
> approve your email address as a non-spammer for all future posts
> (generally less than a day).
>
> --
> Eric Blake   eblake <at> redhat.com    +1-919-301-3266
> Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Anoop Sharma <sendtoanoop <at> gmail.com>
> To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
> Cc:
> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 17:27:52 +0530
> Subject: Incorrect return value of cp with no-clobber option
> When -n (--no-clobber) option of cp is used and the DEST file exists, then, as
> expected, cp is not able to copy the SOURCE to DEST.
>
> However, cp returns 0 in this case.
>
> Shouldn't it return 1 to indicate that copy operation could not be completed?
>
> In absence of this indication how is one to know that some recovery
> action like re-trying cp with some other DEST name is required?
>
> Regards,
> Anoop
>
>
>


Thank you, Eric.

I am a newbie to open source development tools and processes. I had
posted earlier to bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org and had got an acknowledgement
mail immediately.

Subsequently, I subscribed to coreutils <at> gnu.org and have now been
subscribed for more than a month. I originally posted this mail to
that list for discussion. However, there was no acknowledgement from
there and I mistakenly assumed that some spam filter is stopping my
mails from reaching the list. Therefore, I tweaked the text a bit in
an attempt to get past the spam filter and tried multiple times.
Finally, as a work-around, I posted to bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org and
stopped thereafter, because I got an ack again!

I will be more patient next time!

Thanks for educating,
Anoop

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