Message-ID: <45B638BE.80003@acm.org>
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:33:02 +0100
From: Sjoerd Mullender <sjoerd AT acm DOT org>
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To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: bug with built-in commands in bash when redirecting output
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The following one liner illustrates a bug in sh:
$ /bin/bash -c '/bin/bash -cx '\''x=3D`echo hello`'\''' > @x
++ echo hello
+ x=3D$'hello\r'
$

The problem is as follows.  When a built-in shell command (such as pwd
or echo) is executed within back quotes (or within $(...)) when the
shell's output is redirected to a file, the command produces \r\n at the
end of the line of which only the final \n is removed.

Normally when a command is executed within back quotes, the final line
ending is removed before the result is substituted.  That happens here
also, but the difference is that there is still a \r at the end.

When the echo command in the above example is replace by /bin/echo, the
result is correct (i.e. no \r in the assignment to x):

$ /bin/bash -c '/bin/bash -cx '\''x=3D`/bin/echo hello`'\''' > @x
++ /bin/echo hello
+ x=3Dhello
$

The bug, it seems to me, is that the shell checks that its output is
redirected to a file and that it therefore has to write \r\n at the end
of each line.  So far so good.  However, when it executes a built-in
command within back quotes, it still uses this knowledge and still
writes \r\n.

It may be relevant that I have Cygwin configured to use DOS line
endings.  Also, my Cygwin installation is up-to-date (except for pending
updates to readline).  My bash version is 3.2.9-10.

--=20
Sjoerd Mullender


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