Re: Why escape char `:' with `\' when auto completing filenames?

[Chet Ramey]

On 2/17/11 10:03 AM, Clark J. Wang wrote:
>>>>>> "Clark J. Wang" <dearvoid@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think char `:' is not special in bash.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> $ printf "%q\n" "$COMP_WORDBREAKS"
>>>>>> $' \t\n"\'><=;|&(:'
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> I don't think that explain the issue.
>>>>
>>>>   /* characters that need to be quoted when appearing in filenames. */
>>>>  rl_filename_quote_characters = " \t\n\\\"'@<>=;|&()#$`?*[!:{~";
>>>> /*}*/
>>>>
>>>>
>>> So that's  problem. I don't think @=: need to be treated specially. Any
>>> reason?
>>
>> They are used as word break characters during completion.
>>
>>
> That's the way it's implemented but that does not mean that's reasonable.

For pete's sake.  If you don't think they should be word break characters,
modify the value of COMP_WORDBREAKS.  For the record, @ causes a word break
so you can complete hostnames more easily, = breaks so you can complete
filenames on the rhs of assignment statements, and : breaks so you can
complete filenames in words that look like $PATH.

Are we really spending this much time on a cosmetic issue?

-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
                 ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/