Bernd Eggink wrote:
> Chet Ramey schrieb:
>>> Hm, compgen appears to behave strange if words contain whitespace.
>>
>> Well, it splits the argument to -W on $IFS as documented. What other
>> strange behavior do you see?
>
> For example, this:
>
> function _aha
> {
> local list="a b:c d:e f"
> COMPREPLY=($(IFS=: compgen -W "$list"))
> }
>
> complete -F _aha aha
>
> Typing aha <Tab> cycles through 6 items a, b, c, d, e, f, whereas I
> would expect 3 items 'a b', 'c d', 'e f'. It looks like compgen splits
> the argument to -W on $IFS _and_ whitespace. Or am I missing something?
I don't think you're considering the interaction between compgen,
command substitution, and compound array assignment.
I'll use the assignment to `list' you used above for the explanation.
compgen performs word splitting using $IFS and then outputs the results,
one word per line:
$ IFS=: compgen -W "$list"
a b
c d
e f
Command substitution takes that, chops off the last newline, and, since
it's unquoted, performs word splitting using $IFS on the result:
$ recho $(IFS=: compgen -W "$list")
argv[1] = <a>
argv[2] = <b>
argv[3] = <c>
argv[4] = <d>
argv[5] = <e>
argv[6] = <f>
If you want to preserve the embedded newlines, you have to quote the
expansion (but see below):
$ recho "$(IFS=: compgen -W "$list")"
argv[1] = <a b^Jc d^Je f>
When performing compound array assignments, though, the words between
the parens undergo all the shell word expansions, including word splitting:
$ COMPREPLY=( $(IFS=: compgen -W "$list") )
$ recho "${comprep...@]}"
argv[1] = <a>
argv[2] = <b>
argv[3] = <c>
argv[4] = <d>
argv[5] = <e>
argv[6] = <f>
So you can split on just the embedded newlines by setting $IFS:
$ oifs="$IFS"
$ IFS=$'\n' COMPREPLY=( $(IFS=: compgen -W "$list") )
$ IFS="$oifs"
$ recho "${comprep...@]}"
argv[1] = <a b>
argv[2] = <c d>
argv[3] = <e f>
Remember to save and restore $IFS, though, since the assignment to it
preceding the assignment to COMPREPLY will persist.
Chet
--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU [email protected] http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/
