GNU bug report logs - #65685
29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file name "/:~" across platforms

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From: help-debbugs <at> gnu.org (GNU bug Tracking System)
To: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
Cc: tracker <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#65685: closed (29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file
 name "/:~" across platforms)
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2023 07:43:02 +0000

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Your message dated Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:42:00 +0200
with message-id <87fs2d4pmf.fsf <at> gmx.de>
and subject line Re: bug#65685: 29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file name "/:~" across platforms
has caused the debbugs.gnu.org bug report #65685,
regarding 29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file name "/:~" across platforms
to be marked as done.

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From: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file name "/:~" across platforms
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2023 12:22:09 -0700

To see this in action, run 'emacs -Q "/:~"' on both GNU/Linux and 
MS-Windows.[1] On GNU/Linux, this opens a dired buffer for the user's 
home directory. On MS-Windows, it opens a buffer for a new file named tilde.

According to the Emacs manual:

> ‘/:’ can also prevent ‘~’ from being treated as a special character
> for a user’s home directory. For example, /:/tmp/~hack refers to a
> file whose name is ~hack in directory /tmp.
I'd interpret this to mean that the MS-Windows behavior is correct. 
However, the example doesn't specifically say what should happen when 
the tilde comes immediately after the "/:". On the very rare occasions 
you might need it, you can always spell "a file named tilde in the 
current directory" like "/:./~".

This is relevant to some future Eshell changes I'm considering[2], where 
(I think) I'd like "/:~" to mean "the user's local home directory, even 
when default-directory is remote". In light of that, my selfish 
preference is that we keep the GNU/Linux behavior and standardize it 
across all systems. However, we could standardize the MS-Windows 
behavior instead; I'd then just have to call out the different Eshell 
semantics in the Eshell manual.

[1] You can see this inconsistency with other commands too, like "M-x cd 
RET /:~ RET".

[2] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2023-08/msg01244.html

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From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
To: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 65685-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65685: 29.1; Inconsistent behavior of quoted file name
 "/:~" across platforms
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:42:00 +0200

Version: 29.2

Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com> writes:

Hi Jim,

> I think this works now, thanks. (Note that I just eval'ed the new
> version of 'tramp-sh-handle-expand-file-name' on MS-Windows to test
> things out, since I don't have a build environment set up on my
> MS-Windows system.)
>
> So with the patch you merged to Tramp, plus your other one for
> "lisp/files.el", I think this is all working consistently now.

Thanks for the feedback, I've pushed it to the repositories. Closing the bug.

Best regards, Michael.

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