GNU bug report logs - #41001
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘test’: File exists

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

From: Jonny Grant <jg <at> jguk.org>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: mkdir: cannot create directory ‘test’: File exists
Date: Fri, 1 May 2020 16:06:36 +0100

Hello!

Can this error message be clarified? The directory already exists, it is 
not a file.

lib/mkdir-p.c:200 contains this line of code that triggers below:-

error (0, mkdir_errno, _("cannot create directory %s"), quote (dir));

As it's easy enough to know that the reason mkdir fails is because 
'test' a directory that already exists.

Easy enough to check with stat() and S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)

Can this be changed? Maybe I can make a patch for it.
Jonny



$ mkdir test
$ mkdir test
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘test’: File exists
$ mkdir --version
mkdir (GNU coreutils) 8.28
Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later 
<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by David MacKenzie.
$

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