On 20/10/2021 22:50, Florent Flament wrote:
* src/echo.c (usage): Document edge cases when displaying arbitrary
strings with the echo command.
---
src/echo.c | 8 ++++++++
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)
diff --git a/src/echo.c b/src/echo.c
index 18513398a..73b44660b 100644
--- a/src/echo.c
+++ b/src/echo.c
@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@ If -e is in effect, the following sequences are
recognized:\n\
fputs (_("\
\\0NNN byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)\n\
\\xHH byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)\n\
+"), stdout);
+ fputs (_("\
+\n\
+NOTE: The echo command doesn't behave gracefully when displaying\n\
+arbitrary strings. For example, it can't display the string \"-n\" and\n\
+requires the STRICTLY_POSIX flag to display \"-e\" or \"-E\". Therefore,\n\
+if you need to display arbitrary strings please use the printf command\n\
+instead.\n\
"), stdout);
printf (USAGE_BUILTIN_WARNING, PROGRAM_NAME);
emit_ancillary_info (PROGRAM_NAME);
This is too verbose.
BTW the env var is POSIXLY_CORRECT, not STRICTLY_POSIX.
Anyway I don't think we should mention that in the man page anyway.
I'll push the attached later, which just says printf(1) is preferred.
cheers,
Pádraig
>From 0aaa7e4ad33f9cf89d525bda0f9bfe3f9b092288 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?P=C3=A1draig=20Brady?= <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2021 13:05:47 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] doc: say that printf(1) is preferred over echo(1)
* src/echo.c (usage): Say printf(1) is preferred
due to being more standard.
* man/echo.x [SEE ALSO]: Reference printf(1).
---
man/echo.x | 2 ++
src/echo.c | 4 ++++
2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
diff --git a/man/echo.x b/man/echo.x
index 9c4fa8131..61a36706b 100644
--- a/man/echo.x
+++ b/man/echo.x
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
echo \- display a line of text
[DESCRIPTION]
.\" Add any additional description here
+[SEE ALSO]
+printf(1)
diff --git a/src/echo.c b/src/echo.c
index 18513398a..d2262fa6b 100644
--- a/src/echo.c
+++ b/src/echo.c
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ If -e is in effect, the following sequences are recognized:\n\
\\xHH byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)\n\
"), stdout);
printf (USAGE_BUILTIN_WARNING, PROGRAM_NAME);
+ fputs (_("\n\
+NOTE: printf(1) is a preferred alternative, with more standard option handling.\
+\n\
+"), stdout);
emit_ancillary_info (PROGRAM_NAME);
exit (status);
}
--
2.26.2
