GNU bug report logs - #20883
egrep on Solaris fails to call original grep binary

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

From: Vladimir Marek <Vladimir.Marek <at> oracle.com>
To: bug-grep <at> gnu.org
Subject: egrep on Solaris fails to call original grep binary
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2015 17:39:15 +0200

Hi,

$ PATH=/usr/bin gegrep
grep: illegal option -- E
Usage: grep [-c|-l|-q] -bhinsvw pattern file . . .


The gegrep script:

#!/bin/bash
grep=grep
case $0 in
  */*)
    dir=${0%/*}
    if test -x "$dir/grep"; then
      PATH=$dir:$PATH
      grep=grep
    fi;;
esac
exec $grep -E "$@"


The problem is that in the case when egrep is called without specifying full
path (there's no '/' in $0), it calls the grep binary (with -E option) in
default PATH. In the case of Solaris /usr/bin/grep is not a GNU grep, thus
error message about missing -E option.

I can see two possibilities of fixing it

a) As the GNU grep is called 'ggrep' on Solaris, we should use

grep=ggrep

and all is good. No need to change anything in GNU grep, just keep our
local Solaris patch.



b) As the GNU grep is available on /usr/gnu/bin path too (users who
deserve to have GNU commandline behavior use /usr/gnu/bin before
/usr/bin in PATH), we should use the /usr/gnu/bin prefix path for grep:

--- grep-2.20/src/egrep.sh      2015-06-23 14:03:57.123888876 +0200
+++ grep-2.20/src/egrep.sh      2015-06-23 14:03:27.529153050 +0200
@@ -7,5 +7,8 @@ case $0 in
       PATH=$dir:$PATH
       grep=@grep@
     fi;;
+  *)
+    PATH="@prefix@/bin:$PATH"
+    ;;
 esac
 exec $grep @option@ "$@"
--- grep-2.20/src/Makefile.am  2015-06-23 07:17:45.984838354 -0700
+++ grep-2.20/src/Makefile.am  2015-06-23 07:17:45.052710962 -0700
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ egrep fgrep: egrep.sh Makefile
       sed -e 's|[@]SHELL@|$(SHELL)|g' \
           -e "$$edit_substring" \
           -e "s|[@]grep@|$$grep|g" \
+          -e "s|[@]prefix@|$(prefix)|g" \
           -e "s|[@]option@|$$option|g" <$(srcdir)/egrep.sh >$@-t
       $(AM_V_at)chmod +x $@-t
       $(AM_V_at)mv $@-t $@



Generally I do believe that a) is easier and less risky change, but b)
feels to be more generic fix. (User may have GNU grep installed in /tmp
in which case /tmp/bin/egrep won't work unless you have /tmp/bin in your
PATH).


Comments welcome :)

Thank you
-- 
	Vlad

Message #8 received at 20883 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Vladimir Marek <Vladimir.Marek <at> oracle.com>, 20883 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#20883: egrep on Solaris fails to call original grep binary
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:43:39 -0700

Vladimir Marek wrote:
> $ PATH=/usr/bin gegrep
> grep: illegal option -- E

On recently-patched Solaris 10 with bleeding-edge GNU grep, I see the following 
instead:

  $ PATH=/usr/bin gegrep
  gegrep: not found

The above behavior is with /bin/sh, and with gegrep installed in some directory 
that is in my ordinary PATH but not in /usr/bin.

> The gegrep script:
>
> #!/bin/bash
> grep=grep
> case $0 in
>   */*)
>     dir=${0%/*}
>     if test -x "$dir/grep"; then
>       PATH=$dir:$PATH
>       grep=grep
>     fi;;
> esac
> exec $grep -E "$@"

Assuming you configure this way:

  ./configure --prefix=/my/dir --program-prefix=g

(which is how I did it), the egrep script in bleeding-edge grep (obtained from 
savannah via git) should be much simpler:

  #!/bin/bash
  exec ggrep -E "$@"

and this may fix your problem (though I admit I don't understand your problem). 
 The egrep script was simplified as part of the fix for Bug#19998; see:

http://bugs.gnu.org/19998#37

By the way, probably you know this already, but portable scripts should not use 
egrep or fgrep, as these two commands have been removed from POSIX.  They should 
use 'grep -E' and 'grep -F' instead.

Message #11 received at 20883 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Vladimir Marek <Vladimir.Marek <at> oracle.com>
To: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Cc: 20883 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#20883: egrep on Solaris fails to call original grep binary
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:09:34 +0200

> >$ PATH=/usr/bin gegrep
> >grep: illegal option -- E
> 
> On recently-patched Solaris 10 with bleeding-edge GNU grep, I see the
> following instead:
> 
>   $ PATH=/usr/bin gegrep
>   gegrep: not found
> 
> The above behavior is with /bin/sh, and with gegrep installed in some
> directory that is in my ordinary PATH but not in /usr/bin.
> 
> >The gegrep script:
> >
> >#!/bin/bash
> >grep=grep
> >case $0 in
> >  */*)
> >    dir=${0%/*}
> >    if test -x "$dir/grep"; then
> >      PATH=$dir:$PATH
> >      grep=grep
> >    fi;;
> >esac
> >exec $grep -E "$@"
> 
> Assuming you configure this way:
> 
>   ./configure --prefix=/my/dir --program-prefix=g
> 
> (which is how I did it), the egrep script in bleeding-edge grep (obtained
> from savannah via git) should be much simpler:
> 
>   #!/bin/bash
>   exec ggrep -E "$@"


That's a nice simplification of the previous state :)


> and this may fix your problem (though I admit I don't understand your
> problem).  The egrep script was simplified as part of the fix for Bug#19998;
> see:
> 
> http://bugs.gnu.org/19998#37
> 
> By the way, probably you know this already, but portable scripts should not
> use egrep or fgrep, as these two commands have been removed from POSIX.
> They should use 'grep -E' and 'grep -F' instead.

Thank you for the pointer, it helps. Also sorry for the not-so-clear
report, after thinking about it twice, the problem in Solaris is that we
provide both variants. With 'g' prepended and without. So I have to make
the script a little bit more difficult.


Thanks for your time looking at this and your help

-- 
	Vlad

Message #16 received at 20883-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Vladimir Marek <Vladimir.Marek <at> oracle.com>
Cc: 20883-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#20883: egrep on Solaris fails to call original grep binary
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:40:03 -0700

Thanks for following up; sounds like grep is OK then, so closing the bug.

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