Re: New grep feature (patch to 2.5e attached)

[Alain Magloire]

> 
> > Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 00:40:07 -0400 (EDT)
> > From: "Alain Magloire" <address@hidden>
> 
> > I'm not sure I follow, you mean:
> >  -r,                ignore special files when going through directories
> >  -R, --recursive    grep to everything special files are not
> > 
> > If this the behaviour of GNU cp, it would be good to be consistent.
>
> 
> Yes, that's pretty much it.

Thanks for reading between the lines in my reply 8-), I could not even
parse it myself 8).

The rationale sounds good, it will be on my todo list for processing, thanks.

> The GNU cp documentation says:
> 
>    `-r'
>       Copy directories recursively, copying any non-directories and
>       special files (e.g., symbolic links, FIFOs and device files) as if
>       they were regular files.
> 
>    `-R'
>    `--recursive'
>       Copy directories recursively, preserving non-directories (contrast
>       with `-r' just above).
> 
> POSIX 1003.1-200x d6 says that 'cp -r' has implementation-defined
> behavior on special files; GNU 'cp' has the historical BSD behavior.
> 
> There are really two independent questions here:
> 
> * Should symbolic links be followed?
> * Should all non-directories be read as if they were were regular files?
> 
> GNU cp's -r option causes both questions to be answered "yes",
> and its -R option causes both questions to be answered "no".
> 
> I guess grep could have two separate options, to answer each question
> independently.  However, in practice this flexibility doesn't seem to
> be needed, at least not for GNU cp.
> 
> 
> While we're on the subject, POSIX d6 also specifies the following options
> for cp, which are taken from BSD:
> 
>   -H  Follow symbolic links on the command-line, but not other symbolic links.
>   -L  Follow all symbolic links.
>   -P  Do not follow any symbolic links.
> 
> The default is unspecified by POSIX, but I think GNU cp follows BSD cp
> in making -H the default.
> 
> (-L is also called '--dereference' in GNU cp; -P is also called
> --no-dereference.  There is no long option for -H, but I would suggest
> '--dereference-command-line'.  GNU cp uses -P for something else in
> fileutils 4.1, but this will soon change to conform to POSIX d6.)
> 
> This sounds to me like a good model for GNU grep, though you may have
> to omit the short option letters for grep, as -H and -L already mean
> something else.
> 


-- 
au revoir, alain
----
Aussi haut que l'on soit assis, on est toujours assis que sur son cul !!!