GNU bug report logs - #32815
Corrective patch for GNU gzip

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Manfred Morgner <manfred.morgner <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gzip <at> gnu.org
Subject: Corrective patch for GNU gzip
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2018 22:35:05 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hello all,
the manual page of GNU gzip says:
------------------------------DIAGNOSTICS       Exit status is normally 0; if an error occurs, exit status is 1. If a warning occurs, exit status is 2.------------------------------
This is not the case sind version >1.5 for the situation when the source file already ends with .gz 
Test:
$ gzip 2018.gzgzip: 2018.gz already has .gz suffix -- unchanged$ echo $?0
Following the patch for it:
diff --git a/gzip.c b/gzip.cindex e6a7761..bf3eb0a 100644--- a/gzip.c+++ b/gzip.c@@ -1417,8 +1417,8 @@ local int make_ofname()         /* Avoid annoying messages with -r (see treat_dir()) */         if (verbose || (!recursive && !quiet)) {             /* Don't use WARN, as it affects exit status.  */-            fprintf (stderr, "%s: %s already has %s suffix -- unchanged\n",-                     program_name, ifname, suff);+            WARN ((stderr, "%s: %s already has %s suffix -- unchanged\n",+                     program_name, ifname, suff));         }         return WARNING;     } else {
Test:
$ gzip 2018.gzgzip: 2018.gz already has .gz suffix -- unchanged$ echo $?2
Best regards,Manfred

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #8 received at 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Manfred Morgner <manfred.morgner <at> gmail.com>, 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#32815: Corrective patch for GNU gzip
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2018 18:42:22 -0700

Manfred Morgner wrote:
> Hello all,
> the manual page of GNU gzip says:
> Exit status is normally 0; if an error occurs, exit status is 1. If a warning occurs, exit status is 2.
> This is not the case sind version >1.5 for the situation when the source file already ends with .gz
> Test:
> $ gzip 2018.gz
> gzip: 2018.gz already has .gz suffix -- unchanged
> $ echo $?
> 0

Why is this a bug? Arguably no error has occurred.

Message #11 received at 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Manfred Morgner <manfred.morgner <at> gmail.com>, 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#32815: Corrective patch for GNU gzip
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2018 01:29:56 -0700

Manfred Morgner wrote:
> It schould return 2, as documented.

Only if the message "gzip: 2018.gz already has .gz suffix -- unchanged" is a 
warning. Arguably that is merely an informative message, and is not warning 
about anything, as nothing has gone wrong.

Message #14 received at 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Manfred Morgner <manfred.morgner <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 32815 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#32815: Corrective patch for GNU gzip
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2018 08:11:35 -0700

On 9/24/18 2:55 AM, Manfred Morgner wrote:
> It does not the expected action. It does not compress and it does not rename. But it Prints out a Text to inform about the Situation. I think this Situation needs a warning Return Code or the warning text should Go. Otherwise it‘s a bit inconsistent, isn’t it?

It depends on what the user expects. It's not clear to me that this is a 
bug.

Gzip formerly behaved the way you are asking for, but this was changed 
in gzip 1.3.6 (2006). Although I don't recall why, most likely this was 
in response to another bug report where someone complained that gzip was 
warning about a situation even though everything was already OK from 
their point of view.

It all depends on what the user expects, and what the most common use 
cases are. What's your use case and why is the current behavior a 
problem for you?

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