GNU bug report logs - #68666
warning if --exclude-dir arg contains /?

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

From: Karl Berry <karl <at> freefriends.org>
To: bug-grep <at> gnu.org
Subject: warning if --exclude-dir arg contains /?
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2024 16:48:21 -0700

Would it be crazy for  grep --exclude-dir=foo/bar  to give a warning?

Since, as I understand it, any non-trailing / in the arg can never match
since the arg is matched against the basename.

This came up when I ran grep -r --exclude="t/*.dir", thinking it would
exclude all the test output directories. Nope ... --thanks, karl.

Message #8 received at 68666 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Karl Berry <karl <at> freefriends.org>, 68666 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68666: warning if --exclude-dir arg contains /?
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2024 21:37:26 -0800

On 2024-01-22 15:48, Karl Berry wrote:
> Would it be crazy for  grep --exclude-dir=foo/bar  to give a warning?
> 
> Since, as I understand it, any non-trailing / in the arg can never match
> since the arg is matched against the basename.

That's not quite true, as it can match command-line arguments. For example:

  $ grep -rl . lib/* | grep '^lib/unictype/\.gitignore$'
  lib/unictype/.gitignore
  $ grep --exclude-dir=lib/unictype -rl . lib/* | grep 
'^lib/unictype/\.gitignore$'
  $

It should be possible to give useful warnings in some cases, though.

It's too bad the rules are so complicated - that's partly my fault, as 
the various options were added at different times and I didn't think 
things through as suggestions were made. Probably too late to change the 
meaning of existing options now, though.

Message #11 received at 68666 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Karl Berry <karl <at> freefriends.org>
To: eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu
Cc: 68666 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#68666: warning if --exclude-dir arg contains /?
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2024 15:23:50 -0700

    That's not quite true, as it can match command-line arguments. 

I see. Perhaps the manual could be a little less terse than expecting
readers to understand the difference between "name suffix" and "base
name".  Ok, it's clear in retrospect, but ...  maybe something like (not
sure I got it correct):

---
  Skip any command-line directory with a name suffix (possibly with
  several file name components) that matches the pattern @var{glob}.
  When searching recursively, skip any subdirectory whose base name
  (the last file name component) matches @var{glob}.  Ignore any
  redundant trailing slashes in @var{glob}.
  
  In other words if @var{glob} contains a @samp{/} (except for the
  ignored trailing slashes), the pattern will never match when searching
  recursively, but may match against explicit command line arguments.
---

    It should be possible to give useful warnings in some cases, though.

If glob contains a / and there are no command line args,
it seems a warning is warranted?

    Probably too late to change the meaning of existing options now,

Agreed.  --thanks, karl.

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