GNU bug report logs - #17121
tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN
 <benoit.dunand-laisin <at> prologism.fr>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:43:29 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Problem discovered in tr (GNU coreutils) 8.13 on a Ubuntu 12.04.

Running those commands:

cd $HOME
echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]

will result: linux

Running the same from /usr/bin:

cd /usr/bin
echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]

will result: winux
which is obviously a bad answer.

In debug mode:

sh -xc "echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]"
+ echo Linux
+ tr [:upper:] w
winux

Regards.

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #12 received at 17121-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
To: Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN
 <benoit.dunand-laisin <at> prologism.fr>, 17121-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#17121: tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:06:41 -0600

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

tag 17121 notabug
thanks

On 03/27/2014 03:43 AM, Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN wrote:
> Problem discovered in tr (GNU coreutils) 8.13 on a Ubuntu 12.04.
> 
> Running those commands:
> 
> cd $HOME
> echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]

Underquoted.  Run:

echo [:upper:] [:lower:]

and then

echo "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]"

in the two directories to spot the difference.  (Hint - in one of your
two directories, a shell glob is matching a one-byte file name)

As this is user error and not a bug in tr, I'm marking this bug as
closed, but feel free to add more comments if you still need help
understanding the issue.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake redhat com    +1-919-301-3266
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, attachment)]

Message #15 received at 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bernhard Voelker <mail <at> bernhard-voelker.de>
To: 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, eblake <at> redhat.com, 
 benoit.dunand-laisin <at> prologism.fr
Subject: Re: bug#17121: tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 17:46:23 +0100

On 03/27/2014 05:06 PM, Eric Blake wrote:
>> echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]
>
> Underquoted.  Run:
>
> echo [:upper:] [:lower:]
>
> and then
>
> echo "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]"
>
> in the two directories to spot the difference.  (Hint - in one of your
> two directories, a shell glob is matching a one-byte file name)

FWIW: here, the 'w' program comes from the 'procps' package:

  $ ls -l /usr/bin/[:lower:]
  -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 18896 Dec 17 16:58 /usr/bin/w

  $ /usr/bin/w --version
  w from procps-ng 3.3.8

Have a nice day,
Berny

Message #18 received at 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN <benoit.dunand-laisin <at> prologism.fr>
Cc: 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#17121: tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:00:29 +0000

tag 17121 notabug
close 17121
stop

On 03/27/2014 09:43 AM, Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN wrote:
> Problem discovered in tr (GNU coreutils) 8.13 on a Ubuntu 12.04.
> 
> Running those commands:
> 
> cd $HOME
> echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]
> 
> will result: linux
> 
> Running the same from /usr/bin:
> 
> cd /usr/bin
> echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]
> 
> will result: winux
> which is obviously a bad answer.
> 
> In debug mode:
> 
> sh -xc "echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]"
> + echo Linux
> + tr [:upper:] w
> winux

You debugged correctly but failed to see that
tr was getting passed the wrong options. See 'w' above.
That's because the shell is interpreting the [...]
You need to quote it:

$ echo 'Linux' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'

thanks,
Pádraig.

p.s. cd without the $HOME changes to the home directory

Message #21 received at 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN
 <benoit.dunand-laisin <at> prologism.fr>
To: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigbrady.com>, 
 mail <at> bernhard-voelker.de, eblake <at> redhat.com
Cc: 17121 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#17121: tr result is different when executed in /usr/bin
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:13:48 +0100

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Thanks for your explanations.

Regards,
Benoit


2014-03-27 17:00 GMT+01:00 Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigbrady.com>:

> tag 17121 notabug
> close 17121
> stop
>
> On 03/27/2014 09:43 AM, Benoît DUNAND-LAISIN wrote:
> > Problem discovered in tr (GNU coreutils) 8.13 on a Ubuntu 12.04.
> >
> > Running those commands:
> >
> > cd $HOME
> > echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]
> >
> > will result: linux
> >
> > Running the same from /usr/bin:
> >
> > cd /usr/bin
> > echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]
> >
> > will result: winux
> > which is obviously a bad answer.
> >
> > In debug mode:
> >
> > sh -xc "echo "Linux" | tr [:upper:] [:lower:]"
> > + echo Linux
> > + tr [:upper:] w
> > winux
>
> You debugged correctly but failed to see that
> tr was getting passed the wrong options. See 'w' above.
> That's because the shell is interpreting the [...]
> You need to quote it:
>
> $ echo 'Linux' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'
>
> thanks,
> Pádraig.
>
> p.s. cd without the $HOME changes to the home directory
>

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

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