Subject: Re: bug#44409: Example in manual no longer works

From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2020 13:16:18 +0200

On November 3, 2020 9:47:37 AM GMT+02:00, "積丹尼 Dan Jacobson" <[email-masked]> wrote:
> $ grep --color -nH --null -e a /etc/motd
> /etc/motd:2:The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are
> free software;
> /etc/motd:3:the exact distribution terms for each program are
> described in the...
> $ grep --color -nH --null -e a /etc/motd | grep x
> Binary file (standard input) matches

The example in the manual doesn't mention /etc/motd of any other binary file.  It uses text files, where this issue doesn't exist.

If you are seeking information for how to use Grep with binary files, you should be looking in the Grep manual, not the Emacs manual.

> >>>>> "EZ" == Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]> writes:
> EZ> And what is the significance of --null for this purpose?
> 
>      grep -nH -e
> 
> is not the current emacs prompt. It is an older emacs prompt.
> 
> The current emacs prompt is
> 
>      grep --color -nH --null -e

Yes, but you need to edit that prompt anyway in order to type the command with a pipe, so the original prompt doesn't matter much.

I see no problem here that needs tk be fixed.