comint / gdb file name completion with spaces in its path

[Nick Roberts]

 > This is from a user;
 > the complaint is that file name completion doesn't work after M-x gdb.
 > 
 > It seems that `comint-dynamic-complete-filename' is used, and that  
 > this function fails to do its job for filenames with spaces in them.
 > 
 > I verified that this is indeed the case with a current CVS Emacs.

You previously reported the same problem with find-file and that was
changed.  Right?

I think this case is more difficult because:

Run gdb (like this): gdb --annotate=3 /Applications/System Preferences...

also uses spaces that aren't part of the filename.

 > >...
 > > Initial Comment:
 > > Start AquaMacs ... then M-x gdb<RET>
 > >
 > > First, try and use completion to get to the binary /Applications/ 
 > > System
 > > Preferences/Contents/MacOS/System Preferences.  It won't work.  I've
 > > tried various quotings in the minibuffer without luck. 

That's because it's parsed in gud-common-init with split-string, not in a
shell.  Maybe the change could be made here.  This might be easier to do
if we don't play tricks with default-directory, as was discussed in an
earlier thread on emacs-devel.
 
 > >                                                         I am able  
 > > to run
 > > gdb by starting without a file option.  In gdb running file ".../ 
 > > path to
 > > binary".

All is not lost then.  I see that completion on filenames with spaces doesn't
work here either (a backslash is needed), but that seems to be a bug in GDB.

Apple has its own version of GDB, so you might find other things that don't
work.  Please report them here if you do.

-- 
Nick                                           http://www.inet.net.nz/~nickrob