From unknown Fri Aug 15 20:47:15 2025 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.509 (Entity 5.509) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 From: bug#56077 <56077@debbugs.gnu.org> To: bug#56077 <56077@debbugs.gnu.org> Subject: Status: Pattern Beginning With Dash Throws Error Reply-To: bug#56077 <56077@debbugs.gnu.org> Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2025 03:47:15 +0000 retitle 56077 Pattern Beginning With Dash Throws Error reassign 56077 grep submitter 56077 gazip@tutanota.com severity 56077 normal thanks From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sat Jun 18 17:43:58 2022 Received: (at submit) by debbugs.gnu.org; 18 Jun 2022 21:43:58 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:50305 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1o2gEY-0004f1-Fo for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 17:43:58 -0400 Received: from lists.gnu.org ([209.51.188.17]:49796) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1o2eh0-0002HR-Ge for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:05:14 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:35056) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1o2eh0-0007YJ-CL for bug-grep@gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:05:14 -0400 Received: from w4.tutanota.de ([81.3.6.165]:58148) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1o2egy-0000hs-Oy for bug-grep@gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:05:14 -0400 Received: from w3.tutanota.de (unknown [192.168.1.164]) by w4.tutanota.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 038C610602CD for ; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 20:05:08 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; t=1655582707; s=s1; d=tutanota.com; h=From:From:To:To:Subject:Subject:Content-Description:Content-ID:Content-Type:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Cc:Date:Date:In-Reply-To:MIME-Version:MIME-Version:Message-ID:Message-ID:Reply-To:References:Sender; bh=DIl1rNgAoTMm7sbdYGknhCwda9rI+wlud1xHKADYkRs=; b=wFBfAqdXfq2d9lQE847cSdH8R1m2V4s7rU1/jl6Z6t6Tf2u1CCn7MWWtTvght7ff 8/16f6SE7JFVymPQrL5MUsgNoEE48vKXRQio4KY/PnR/Hf/LyioZiMYQCYfLrQFJdqI Od7Z0GwsbTj28+7iQNgq/LaK0hfcCe4ea+aFIHGar8OxJjXP98PUM+fCcAR9sOLT/xe kYPI4p3i1SlrpdKf6kQl31jdqNBnkPzCXsqioLO9WPCtvIyctPEBRjnSqWNpxYs9Gph RfTvPdW88MPYe7Aa9zn/rpi+zAI0zk6nLTvlVg9kBOCOCp+fLkavwjbmJWhhEAhAUUI v5xsg8hlHA== Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2022 22:05:07 +0200 (CEST) From: gazip@tutanota.com To: Bug Grep Message-ID: Subject: Pattern Beginning With Dash Throws Error MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_201829_1065216432.1655582707997" Received-SPF: pass client-ip=81.3.6.165; envelope-from=gazip@tutanota.com; helo=w4.tutanota.de X-Spam_score_int: -20 X-Spam_score: -2.1 X-Spam_bar: -- X-Spam_report: (-2.1 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_EF=-0.1, HTML_MESSAGE=0.001, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE=-0.0001, SPF_HELO_PASS=-0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE=-0.01 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-Spam-Score: -1.4 (-) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: submit X-Mailman-Approved-At: Sat, 18 Jun 2022 17:43:57 -0400 X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -2.4 (--) ------=_Part_201829_1065216432.1655582707997 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello, I just encountered a problem where when the search pattern starts with a dash, grep interprets it as an argument parameter. It does not matter in what kind of quotes the pattern is wrapped. See examples below. $ echo "- break -" | grep "- break -" grep: invalid option -- ' ' Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]... Try 'grep --help' for more information. $ echo "- break -" | grep '- break -' grep: invalid option -- ' ' Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]... Try 'grep --help' for more information. $ echo "- break -" | grep '^- break -' - break - $ echo "- break -" | grep "^- break -" - break - $ echo "- break -" | grep "-s break -" grep: invalid option -- ' ' Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]... Try 'grep --help' for more information. grep Version: grep (GNU grep) 3.7 Sincerely, Gazi ------=_Part_201829_1065216432.1655582707997 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hello,

I just encountered a problem where when the search pattern starts with= a dash, grep interprets it as an argument parameter. It does not matter in= what kind of quotes the pattern is wrapped. See examples below.

$ echo "- break -" | grep "- break -"
<= /span>
grep: invalid option -- ' '
Try = 'grep --help' for more information.
$ echo "- bre= ak -" | grep '- break -'
grep: invalid option -- = ' '
Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]...
Try 'grep --help' for more information.
<= /div>
$ echo "- break -" | grep '^- break -'
- break -
$ echo "- break -" | grep "^- brea= k -"
- break -
= $ echo "= - break -" | grep "-s break -"
grep: invalid optio= n -- ' '
Usage: grep [OPTION]... PATTERNS [FILE]..= .=
Try 'grep --help' for more information.


grep Version: grep (GNU grep) 3.7
<= div dir=3D"auto">

Si= ncerely,
Gazi
------=_Part_201829_1065216432.1655582707997-- From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sat Jun 18 17:50:10 2022 Received: (at 56077-done) by debbugs.gnu.org; 18 Jun 2022 21:50:10 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:50312 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1o2gKY-0004rL-AT for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 17:50:10 -0400 Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([131.179.128.68]:56482) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1o2gKU-0004qh-K7 for 56077-done@debbugs.gnu.org; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 17:50:09 -0400 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F96716010D; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 14:50:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10032) with ESMTP id xsRNQW3aSuVx; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 14:49:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id A94D7160112; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 14:49:59 -0700 (PDT) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at zimbra.cs.ucla.edu Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026) with ESMTP id vnR_c4js1_0X; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 14:49:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.0.205] (ip72-206-2-24.fv.ks.cox.net [72.206.2.24]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 5448E16010D; Sat, 18 Jun 2022 14:49:59 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <475a372e-2c87-703c-1b7e-99bdc566bc7f@cs.ucla.edu> Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:49:58 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/91.9.1 Subject: Re: bug#56077: Pattern Beginning With Dash Throws Error Content-Language: en-US To: gazip@tutanota.com References: From: Paul Eggert In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Score: -2.3 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 56077-done Cc: 56077-done@debbugs.gnu.org X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -3.3 (---) On 6/18/22 15:05, gazip--- via Bug reports for GNU grep wrote: > I just encountered a problem where when the search pattern starts with a dash, grep interprets it as an argument parameter. That's normal for grep. See question 3 of: https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/html_node/Usage.html From unknown Fri Aug 15 20:47:15 2025 Received: (at fakecontrol) by fakecontrolmessage; To: internal_control@debbugs.gnu.org From: Debbugs Internal Request Subject: Internal Control Message-Id: bug archived. Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2022 11:24:07 +0000 User-Agent: Fakemail v42.6.9 # This is a fake control message. # # The action: # bug archived. thanks # This fakemail brought to you by your local debbugs # administrator