GNU bug report logs - #23388
[PATCH] size option may want to reject "bB" or "biB" suffix

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

From: Young Mo Kang <kym327 <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: [PATCH] size option may want to reject "bB" or "biB" suffix
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 01:29:21 +0900

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

Hello,

I found a bug in coreutils' size option, which currently accepts options
like "split -b 1bB" or "split -b 1biB". I believe these options should be
rejected. I looked through the code and found out that gnulib's __xstrtol
function in xstrtol.c is the culprit. I did a quick fix and the patch is
attached. The patch should fix this issue in general.

Additionally, while looking at the code, I may have found another bug, but
I am not so sure whether this is how it is intended. When I run "shred -s
1B", I think it should shred only a single byte, but it seems to shred 1024
bytes instead. Is this behavior intended?

Anyways, I have marked this down in the patch as a FIXME comment. Since the
patch applies to gnulib, I am not sure whether this patch should be
submitted to gnulib bug report instead. Please let me know if so.

Lastly, I noticed that different programs within coreutils accept different
size suffixes. For example, split's valid suffix is "bEGKkMmPTYZ0" while
shred's is "cbBkKMGTPEZY0". I thought maybe it is better to unify valid
suffix for all the programs within coreutils.

Best,
Young Mo

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

[0001-Reject-unaccepted-suffixes-such-as-bB-or-biB.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

Message #10 received at 23388-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Young Mo Kang <kym327 <at> gmail.com>, 23388-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#23388: [PATCH] size option may want to reject "bB" or "biB"
 suffix
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:12:03 -0700

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

On 04/27/2016 09:29 AM, Young Mo Kang wrote:
> different programs within coreutils accept different
> size suffixes. For example, split's valid suffix is "bEGKkMmPTYZ0" while
> shred's is "cbBkKMGTPEZY0". I thought maybe it is better to unify valid
> suffix for all the programs within coreutils.

The intent, as I recall, was to prefer a standard set of suffixes listed 
in the "Block size" section of the Coreutils manual. Some programs 
accept additional suffixes for historical reasons but we'd rather not 
encourage the use of these obsolescent usages.

Thanks for reporting the glitch. I installed the attached patch into Gnulib.

[0001-xstrtol-prohibit-monstrosities-like-1bB.patch (application/x-patch, attachment)]

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