Re: bash: ":?xxx" filename broken on autocomplete

[Kerin Millar]

On Sat, 27 Apr 2024 23:28:49 +0200
Gioele Barabucci <gioele@svario.it> wrote:

> Control: found -1 5.2.21-2
> 
> On Tue, 27 Aug 2019 16:36:03 +0200 Philipp Marek <philipp@marek.priv.at> 
> wrote:
> > the autocompletion is broken on filenames or directories with ":?" at the 
> > beginning.
> > 
> >     # mkdir ':?aa'
> >     # rmdir :<tab>
> > 
> > gives me
> > 
> >     # rmdir :\:\?
> > 
> > which doesn't match the filename; I can finish completion by entering "aa", 
> > but then "rm" rejects this name.
> 
> In bash 5.2.21(1) the filename is now fully completed, but the stray ":" 
> at the beginning is still produced:
> 
>      $ mkdir ':?aa'
>      $ rmdir :<TAB>
>      $ rmdir :\:\?aa/

In the course of trying this in bash-5.3-alpha, I noticed something else. If 
':?aa' is not the only entry in the current working directory, readline behaves 
as if :<tab> is an ambiguous completion. That is:

# mkdir ':?aa'
# touch 'something-else'
# rmdir :<tab>

... produces nothing until pressing the tab key a second time, after which both 
entries are listed while the content of readline's input buffer remains 
unchanged.

-- 
Kerin Millar