I wrote:
> I don't see how this can be fixed in unix without breaking umpteen million
> shell scripts.
On Sun, Oct 04, 2009 at 06:12:15AM +0200, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote:
> By creating new commands with distinct new names.
I thought of a better way. We can fix the commands without breaking
compatibility, using `--'. `--' in unix normally excludes further options.
My idea is that `--' should force multi-file mode, excluding different
behaviour in case of an empty list or a single-member list.
`--' ends options, forces consistent multi-file mode, allows empty lists
This gives the best of both worlds - existing usage is still valid, but people
can choose to use new syntax when dealing with lists of files.
It is consistent with the current meaning of `--' in unix.
Examples of new usage (using rc this time):
# wrap stdin with a header and footer
cat header - footer
fn find { du -a $* | awk '{print $2}' } # du/find are not fixed yet
# cat all C files, ok if none
cat -- `{find . | grep '\.c$'}
# same thing, with grep instead, always outputs file:matching-line
grep malloc -- `{find . | grep '\.c$'}
Down with DWIM!!
What do you think of this proposal?
Can you think of a real example where it would be incompatible?
Sam
