Re: Quote file name args to start-process-shell-command?

[David Kastrup]

address@hidden (Kim F. Storm) writes:

> David Kastrup <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> One would have to look at the actual use cases to see whether any
>> caller assumes differently, but from the description, I'd agree
>> with Lennart's idea.
>
> But it would break any uses where the caller already has used
> shell-quote-argument.
>
> Let's leave the API alone

It appears broken to me, but fixing it in a backwards-compatible way
does not seem possible without further messing the API up.

The question is how much actual code might be affected by a non
backwards-compatible change of the API.  I never heard of the function
until now.

> -- but it would be ok to mention the use of shell-quote-argument in
> the doc string.

I'd prefer fixing the function instead.  A command API should take
either a single string, or a list of individual arguments.  A list of
individual arguments which get concatened into a single string that is
later split into individual arguments in a different way: that simply
is not a useful concept to wrap into calling conventions.

The current API suggests a usage that does not actually work.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum