GNU bug report logs - #43789
27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains linebreak

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

From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains linebreak
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2020 16:58:06 +0800 (CST)

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

Step to reproduce:


1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file which name contains a linebreak. (e.g. "line\nbreak")
2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because the characters after "\n" was ignored by dired.

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

Message #8 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1;
 Dired cannot handle file which name contains linebreak
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:36:58 +0300

> Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2020 16:58:06 +0800 (CST)
> From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
> 
> 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file which name contains a linebreak. (e.g.
> "line\nbreak")
> 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because the characters after "\n" was ignored by
> dired.

You need to add -b to the 'ls' switches, and then it will work.  That
is:

  C-u C-x d
  b RET

The "b RET" part makes the switches passed to 'ls' be "-alb" instead
of the default "-al".

Message #11 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
To: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re:Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2020 17:49:17 +0800 (CST)

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

Thank you, what about make this a part of default ls switch?





















At 2020-10-04 17:36:58, "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org> wrote:
>> Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2020 16:58:06 +0800 (CST)
>> From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
>> 
>> 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file which name contains a linebreak. (e.g.
>> "line\nbreak")
>> 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because the characters after "\n" was ignored by
>> dired.
>
>You need to add -b to the 'ls' switches, and then it will work.  That
>is:
>
>  C-u C-x d
>  b RET
>
>The "b RET" part makes the switches passed to 'ls' be "-alb" instead
>of the default "-al".

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

Message #14 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2020 13:54:44 +0300

> Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2020 17:49:17 +0800 (CST)
> From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
> Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Thank you, what about make this a part of default ls switch?

I think this would have unwanted effect on other control characters.
ISTR this was discussed in the past, but I cannot find that discussion
at the moment.

Message #17 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Zhu Zihao <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:39:54 +0200

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

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

> I think this would have unwanted effect on other control characters.
> ISTR this was discussed in the past, but I cannot find that discussion
> at the moment.

I experimented a bit with two files, one with a newline and one with a
C-b character:

[Message part 2 (image/png, inline)]

[Message part 3 (text/plain, inline)]

The latter works in dired by default, while the former doesn't.

Adding b to the switches gives me:

[Message part 4 (image/png, inline)]

[Message part 5 (text/plain, inline)]

The C-b file still works, and the one with newline also works.

Does anybody remember what the unwanted effect was?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

Message #20 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
To: "Lars Ingebrigtsen" <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>, 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re:Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2020 15:47:43 +0800 (CST)

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

It generally follows the escape rule of string in Elisp I think.





















At 2020-10-05 15:39:54, "Lars Ingebrigtsen" <larsi <at> gnus.org> wrote:
>Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:
>
>> I think this would have unwanted effect on other control characters.
>> ISTR this was discussed in the past, but I cannot find that discussion
>> at the moment.
>
>I experimented a bit with two files, one with a newline and one with a
>C-b character:
>

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

Message #23 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>, 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
 Zhu Zihao <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:49:13 +0200

One downside is that -b isn't POSIX.

Andreas.

-- 
Andreas Schwab, schwab <at> linux-m68k.org
GPG Key fingerprint = 7578 EB47 D4E5 4D69 2510  2552 DF73 E780 A9DA AEC1
"And now for something completely different."

Message #26 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>
Cc: larsi <at> gnus.org, 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, all_but_last <at> 163.com
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:10:59 +0300

> From: Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>
> Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>,  43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,  Zhu Zihao
>  <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
> Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:49:13 +0200
> 
> One downside is that -b isn't POSIX.

Right.

I'm also not sure everyone would like to see \002 instead of ^B.

Message #29 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
To: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, larsi <at> gnus.org,
 Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>
Subject: Re:Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2020 16:18:11 +0800 (CST)

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

If "\002" can be display like ^B, we can make "\n" display like ^J in dired.





















At 2020-10-05 16:10:59, "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org> wrote:
>> From: Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>
>> Cc: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>,  43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,  Zhu Zihao
>>  <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
>> Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:49:13 +0200
>> 
>> One downside is that -b isn't POSIX.
>
>Right.
>
>I'm also not sure everyone would like to see \002 instead of ^B.

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

Message #32 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Andreas Schwab <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>,
 all_but_last <at> 163.com
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 10:26:29 +0200

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

>> One downside is that -b isn't POSIX.
>
> Right.

I thought I remembered seeing some code in dired to probe for whether a
switch was supported or not...  did I just dream that?

> I'm also not sure everyone would like to see \002 instead of ^B.

Both control characters and newlines are pretty rare occurrences in file
names, but I'd take \002 for ^B over a Dired that doesn't work with \n.
Functionality over prettiness, or something. 

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

Message #35 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
To: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:30:50 +0200

"Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com> writes:

> Step to reproduce:
>
> 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file
> which name contains a linebreak. (e.g. "line\nbreak")
> 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because
> the characters after "\n" was ignored by dired.

I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks. Tramp, for
example, cannot handle them at all.

Best regards, Michael.

Message #38 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, larsi <at> gnus.org, schwab <at> linux-m68k.org
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:40:16 +0300

> Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2020 16:18:11 +0800 (CST)
> From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
> Cc: "Andreas Schwab" <schwab <at> linux-m68k.org>, larsi <at> gnus.org, 
> 	43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> If "\002" can be display like ^B, we can make "\n" display like ^J in dired.

The display comes from 'ls'.

Message #41 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, all_but_last <at> 163.com
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1;
 Dired cannot handle file which name contains linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:51:00 +0300

> From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
> Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:30:50 +0200
> Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com> writes:
> 
> > Step to reproduce:
> >
> > 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file
> > which name contains a linebreak. (e.g. "line\nbreak")
> > 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because
> > the characters after "\n" was ignored by dired.
> 
> I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks. Tramp, for
> example, cannot handle them at all.

Cannot agree more.  And I think we shouldn't tweak our implementation
too much for such use cases, given that there's an easy workaround.

Message #44 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>, Zhu Zihao <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: RE: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2020 09:53:15 -0700 (PDT)

> > 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file
> > which name contains a linebreak. (e.g. "line\nbreak")
> > 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because
> > the characters after "\n" was ignored by dired.
> 
> I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks. Tramp, for
> example, cannot handle them at all.

And it's likely to mess up font-locking and other
Dired features that expect a newline to indicate
the end of a Dired line.

Dired, and other line-oriented displays, are a bit
fragile in this respect.

Message #49 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
To: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, all_but_last <at> 163.com
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1;
 Dired cannot handle file which name contains linebreak
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 22:30:45 -0400

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks.

I agree -- but what if you have one, perhaps made by mistake?
The natural way for an Emacs user to rename or delete it
is with Dired.  It would be nice for Dired to handle it
at least enough to do that.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)

Message #52 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
To: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, all_but_last <at> 163.com
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name contains
 linebreak
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2020 10:59:39 +0200

Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> writes:

Hi Richard,

>   > I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks.
>
> I agree -- but what if you have one, perhaps made by mistake?
> The natural way for an Emacs user to rename or delete it
> is with Dired.  It would be nice for Dired to handle it
> at least enough to do that.

But that's already possible. The user might set temporarily

(setq dired-actual-switches "-alb")

Best regards, Michael.

Message #55 received at 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
To: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
Subject: Re:Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2020 00:11:35 +0800 (CST)

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

I think I get an acceptable solution. thank you  all!


We may close this issue now.






At 2020-10-05 17:51:00, "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz <at> gnu.org> wrote:
>> From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
>> Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:30:50 +0200
>> Cc: 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> 
>> "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com> writes:
>> 
>> > Step to reproduce:
>> >
>> > 1. Use touch from coreutils or find-file in Emacs to create a file
>> > which name contains a linebreak. (e.g. "line\nbreak")
>> > 2. Visit it in dired, you cannot do anything with this file because
>> > the characters after "\n" was ignored by dired.
>> 
>> I recommend to avoid file names containing line breaks. Tramp, for
>> example, cannot handle them at all.
>
>Cannot agree more.  And I think we shouldn't tweak our implementation
>too much for such use cases, given that there's an easy workaround.

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

Message #60 received at 43789-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
Cc: 43789-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org, michael.albinus <at> gmx.de
Subject: Re: bug#43789: 27.1; Dired cannot handle file which name
 contains linebreak
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2020 19:25:53 +0300

> Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2020 00:11:35 +0800 (CST)
> From: "Zhu Zihao" <all_but_last <at> 163.com>
> Cc: "Michael Albinus" <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>, 43789 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> I think I get an acceptable solution. thank you  all!
> 
> We may close this issue now.

Done, thanks.

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