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Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting The "read" command misinterprets file names containing spaces Post 302588181 by LessNux on Saturday 7th of January 2012 09:42:51 AM
Old 01-07-2012
Quote:
Originally Posted by LessNux
The delimiter can be changed from space to other characters by setting $IFS. However, I would rather stick on space for delimiter, because all characters including all symbols seem to be legal for file names or path names on modern GUI OS's.


Even a LF (\n, 0x0A) can be in file names on GUI OS's. Though it may be silly to put LF's in file names, it can accidentally happen when one copies from text and pastes it to a file name.

I thought about setting the delimiter to a non-printable character that is really unusual, such as ETX (0x03), ACK (0x06). However, it would be difficult for the user to input such non-printable characters at the read's prompt. I would like to let the user enter file names as he/she would enter on command line.

I discourage any attempts that resort to IFS.

The real problem is that the "read" command does not understand quotes and backslashes as the shell does. What the "read" command has obtained needs to be re-parsed by correctly handling quotes and backslashes like the shell. Can you think about any technique for such re-parsing?
 

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fmlcut(1F)							   FMLI Commands							fmlcut(1F)

NAME
fmlcut - cut out selected fields of each line of a file SYNOPSIS
fmlcut -clist [filename...] fmlcut -flist [-dchar] [-s] [filename...] DESCRIPTION
The fmlcut function cuts out columns from a table or fields from each line in filename; in database parlance, it implements the projection of a relation. fmlcut can be used as a filter; if filename is not specified or is -, the standard input is read. list specifies the fields to be selected. Fields can be fixed length (character positions) or variable length (separated by a field delimiter character), depending on whether -c or -f is specified. Note: Either the -c or the -f option must be specified. OPTIONS
list A comma-separated list of integer field numbers (in increasing order), with optional - to indicate ranges. For example: 1,4,7; 1-3,8; -5,10 (short for 1-5,10); or 3- (short for third through last field). -clist If -c is specified, list specifies character positions (for instance, -c1-72 would pass the first 72 characters of each line). Note: No space intervenes between -c and list. -flist If -f is specified, list is a list of fields assumed to be separated in the file by the default delimiter character, TAB, or by char if the -d option is specified. For example, -f1,7 copies the first and seventh field only. Lines with no delimiter characters are passed through intact (useful for table subheadings), unless -s is specified. Note: No space intervenes between -f and list. The following options can be used if you have specified -f. -dchar If -d is specified, char is the field delimiter. Space or other characters with special meaning to FMLI must be quoted. Note: No space intervenes between -d and char . The default field delimiter is TAB. -s Suppresses lines with no delimiter characters. If -s is not specified, lines with no delimiters will be passed through untouched. EXAMPLES
Example 1: Getting login IDs and names The following example gets the login IDs and names. example% fmlcut -d: -f1,5 /etc/passwd Example 2: Getting the current login name The next example gets the current login name. example% `who am i | fmlcut -f1 -d" "` ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWcsu | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO
fmlgrep(1F), attributes(5) DIAGNOSTICS
fmlcut returns the following exit values: 0 when the selected field is successfully cut out 2 on syntax errors The following error messages may be displayed on the FMLI message line: ERROR: line too long A line has more than 1023 characters or fields, or there is no new-line character. ERROR: bad list for c/f option Missing -c or -f option or incorrectly specified list. No error occurs if a line has fewer fields than the list calls for. ERROR: no fields The list is empty. ERROR: no delimiter Missing char on -d option. NOTES
fmlcut cannot correctly process lines longer than 1023 characters, or lines with no newline character. SunOS 5.10 5 Jul 1990 fmlcut(1F)
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