zsh+OSX: how to cope w spaces in fnames?
in [Shell]
|
Prev: reading lines from standard input or a two way pipe into an array
Next: creating arrays from text files
From: kj on 27 Nov 2007 17:59 I recently switched to OS X for my home computer. One recurrent source of headaches is the proliferation in OS X of filenames with embedded spaces. This means that many of my habitual shell interaction practices fail; e.g. anything like % for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate $i will fail with errors like frobnicate: La: No such file or directory frobnicate: Cucaracha.mp3: No such file or directory etc. I have resisted the temptation to write a function that will rename all the files in the current directory, replacing spaces with underscores, because I fear that such a "destructive" procedure is precisely the kind that I should not be doing too easily; invariably *somewhere* there will be the proverbial File Whose Name Should Not Be Changed, etc., etc. Weeks later, some program begins to crash inexplicably, leading to loss of productivity, alcoholism, foreclosure, divorce, suicide, the usual story... So, DON'T GO THERE, in flashing neon lights... Is there anything else I could do to regain my shell interaction fluency in this environment? TIA! kj -- NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded.
From: Dan Mercer on 27 Nov 2007 18:07 "kj" <socyl(a)987jk.com.invalid> wrote in message news:fii7gq$erf$1(a)reader1.panix.com... : : : I recently switched to OS X for my home computer. One recurrent : source of headaches is the proliferation in OS X of filenames with : embedded spaces. This means that many of my habitual shell : interaction practices fail; e.g. anything like : : % for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate $i % for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate "$i" Good practice no matter what shell you're using Dan Mercer : : will fail with errors like : : frobnicate: La: No such file or directory : frobnicate: Cucaracha.mp3: No such file or directory : : etc. : : I have resisted the temptation to write a function that will rename : all the files in the current directory, replacing spaces with : underscores, because I fear that such a "destructive" procedure is : precisely the kind that I should not be doing too easily; invariably : *somewhere* there will be the proverbial File Whose Name Should : Not Be Changed, etc., etc. Weeks later, some program begins to : crash inexplicably, leading to loss of productivity, alcoholism, : foreclosure, divorce, suicide, the usual story... So, DON'T GO : THERE, in flashing neon lights... : : Is there anything else I could do to regain my shell interaction : fluency in this environment? : : TIA! : : kj : : -- : NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; : and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded.
From: Christian Schneider on 27 Nov 2007 18:10 Thus spake kj (socyl(a)987jk.com.invalid): > I recently switched to OS X for my home computer. One recurrent > source of headaches is the proliferation in OS X of filenames with > embedded spaces. This means that many of my habitual shell > interaction practices fail; e.g. anything like > > % for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate $i > > will fail with errors like > > frobnicate: La: No such file or directory > frobnicate: Cucaracha.mp3: No such file or directory > > etc. [...] Maybe »for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate "$i"«? -- { \|/ ______ \|/ Access denieded | Christian 'strcat' Schneider } { "@' / , . \ `@" Nah Nah Nah :p | http://www.strcat.de/ } { /__| \____/ |__\ | http://www.strcat.de/blog/ } { \___U__/ | http://strcat.de/chris.gpg }
From: Stephane Chazelas on 28 Nov 2007 04:04
On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:59:38 +0000 (UTC), kj wrote: > > > I recently switched to OS X for my home computer. One recurrent > source of headaches is the proliferation in OS X of filenames with > embedded spaces. This means that many of my habitual shell > interaction practices fail; e.g. anything like > > % for i ( *.mp3 ) frobnicate $i > > will fail with errors like > > frobnicate: La: No such file or directory > frobnicate: Cucaracha.mp3: No such file or directory [...] That should work with zsh as that's one of the biggest sh misfeature that zsh fixed, unless you've configured zsh to emulate other shells or explicitely set the "sh_word_split" option (in which case you need to quote $i as others said). What is possible is that the "frobnicate" command can't deal with filenames with spaces. It's likely for instance if it's a poorly written shell script. -- Stephane |