On 14/01/2025 04:05, Ranuga D wrote:
Dear Coreutils Team,I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to propose a feature enhancement for the mkdir command. This enhancement introduces a new -a option for handling single-directory names with spaces or special formatting. Proposed Functionality 1. *Handling Spaces*: Create directories with spaces in their names without requiring manual quoting or escaping. Example: mkdir "this is a single directory file name" -a *Expected Result*: A directory named this is a single directory file name is created. 2. *Replacing Spaces with Underscores*: Introduce an additional option ( --convert-underscores) to replace spaces with underscores in directory names. Example: mkdir "this is a single directory file name" -a --convert-underscores *Expected Result*: A directory named this_is_a_single_directory_file_name is created. Rationale Currently, users must manually quote or escape directory names with spaces or special characters, which can be inconvenient. This proposed feature would: - Simplify directory creation workflows. - Improve usability for both interactive use and script-based environments. - Enhance compatibility with systems or workflows where spaces in names can cause issues. Benefits of the Feature - Streamlines directory creation for names with spaces or special characters. - Reduces potential errors caused by unescaped characters. - Provides additional flexibility for users managing directory names programmatically. Thank you for considering this feature request. I believe it could significantly enhance the usability of the mkdir command. Please let me know if additional information or clarification is required.
I don't think this is appropriate for a few reasons: This would be applicable to any tool, not just mkdir. So it wouldn't be appropriate to add these options to all tools. --convert-underscores etc. is too specific. Would you also have --convert-hyphens. As it stands you have the wealth of conversion utilities available in the existing unix toolset, which can be applied with quoting etc. cheers, Pádraig
