GNU bug report logs - #18798
ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn

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

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 01:22:18 +0800

One finds that -d completely nullifies any -R flag of ls,
so maybe print a warning etc. Or warn on the man page, etc.

Message #8 received at 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "L. A. Walsh" <coreutils <at> tlinx.org>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#18798: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:28:39 -0700

積丹尼 Dan Jacobson wrote:
> One finds that -d completely nullifies any -R flag of ls,
> so maybe print a warning etc. Or warn on the man page, etc.
What would you want it to do?  "-d" says to show info on the directory
and NOT expand it. 

"-d" says give info on the "name" that you type in rather than any
contents.

The "-R" says to recursively expand any names that point to
directories, but you just told "ls"  to show all of the input
arguments as  names-only (with -d)  and not expand any
contents...  So what can '-R' expand?


I.e. -- what would you expect "-R" to do in such a circumstance
-- or rather, what would you *want* it to do?..

*curious*
Linda...

Message #11 received at 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: "L. A. Walsh" <coreutils <at> tlinx.org>
Cc: 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#18798: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:45:56 +0800

I was thinking maybe ls -Rd would be like ls -R, but only show
directories, not also regular files too.

I don't think any behavior should be changed. I just think some note
about that combination should be added to the docs.

Message #14 received at 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bob Proulx <bob <at> proulx.com>
To: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
Cc: 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#18798: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:02:28 -0600

積丹尼 Dan Jacobson wrote:
> I was thinking maybe ls -Rd would be like ls -R, but only show
> directories, not also regular files too.

There is always grep for simple things.

  ls -l | grep ^d

Once you start wanting to filter the listing by the type of object
then you really should start to use 'find' since 'find' is *the*
program designed for doing exactly that task.

  find . -type d

> I don't think any behavior should be changed. I just think some note
> about that combination should be added to the docs.

The --help output says:

  -d, --directory            list directories themselves, not their contents

The documentation currently says:

  ‘-d’
  ‘--directory’
     List just the names of directories, as with other types of files,
     rather than listing their contents.  Do not follow symbolic links
     listed on the command line unless the ‘--dereference-command-line’
     (‘-H’), ‘--dereference’ (‘-L’), or
     ‘--dereference-command-line-symlink-to-dir’ options are specified.

What would you say there instead of or in addition to the above?

Bob

Message #17 received at 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>
To: Bob Proulx <bob <at> proulx.com>
Cc: 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#18798: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:17:26 +0800

All I'm saying is that if one has never used the program, one cannot
really guess what will happen with the combination of -R and -d just by
reading the documentation.

Indeed there are a few other switches that nullify one another too.

>>>>> "BP" == Bob Proulx <bob <at> proulx.com> writes:

BP> What would you say there instead of or in addition to the above?

I don't really know the best words. I'll leave that to the Pro(ulx)s :-)

Message #20 received at 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Assaf Gordon <assafgordon <at> gmail.com>
To: 18798 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#18798: ls -Rd = ls -d so maybe warn
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2018 19:07:59 -0600

tags 18798 moreinfo
close 18798
stop

(triaging old bugs)

On 23/10/14 12:17 PM, 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson wrote:
>>>>>> "BP" == Bob Proulx <bob <at> proulx.com> writes:
> 
> BP> What would you say there instead of or in addition to the above?
> 
> I don't really know the best words. I'll leave that to the Pro(ulx)s :-)
> 

With no further follow-ups and no concrete suggestions in 4 years,
I'm closing this bug.
Discussion can continue by replying to this thread.

regards,
 - assaf

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