GNU bug report logs - #54174
(MacOS Monterey 12.2.1: zsh): grep "string" * is interpreted as grep -V when directory has a filename "-Vfilename.ext"

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From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Marja Koivunen <marja <at> innomore.com>
Cc: 54174 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#54174: (MacOS Monterey 12.2.1: zsh): grep "string" * is interpreted as grep -V when directory has a filename "-Vfilename.ext"
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2022 15:22:29 -0800

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

On 2/27/22 11:31, Marja Koivunen wrote:
> Maybe what is possible is to add a line to manual that explains that certain filenames that are OK in modern OS might not work with grep.
> 
> I have used “-" sometimes to keep certain file at the top of directory hierarchy. In this case I was organizing libraries and marked those that I was not using with “-“.

Although that practice is tempting, it is probably not a good idea on 
any platform where you might use shell commands. POSIX says portable 
file names can't begin with '-'.

There is a section of the grep manual that talks about this but perhaps 
it is not clear enough. I installed the attached patch to try to make it 
better.

[0001-doc-more-on-leading.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

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