Our git-aware path completion doesn't work when it has to complete a
word already containing quoted and/or backslash-escaped characters on
the command line. The root cause of the issue is that completion
functions see all words on the command line verbatim, i.e. including
all backslash, single and double quote characters that the shell would
eventually remove when executing the finished command. These
quoting/escaping characters cause different issues depending on which
path component of the word to be completed contains them:
- The quoting/escaping is in the prefix path component(s).
Let's suppose we have a directory called 'New Dir', containing two
untracked files 'file.c' and 'file.o', and we have a gitignore
rule ignoring object files. In this case all of these:
git add New\ Dir/<TAB>
git add "New Dir/<TAB>
git add 'New Dir/<TAB>
should uniquely complete 'file.c' right away, but Bash offers both
'file.c' and 'file.o' instead. The reason for this behavior is
that our completion script uses the prefix directory name like
'git -C "New\ Dir/" ls-files ...", i.e. with the backslash inside
double quotes. Git then tries to enter a directory called
'New\ Dir', which (most likely) fails because such a directory
doesn't exists. As a result our completion script doesn't list
any files, leaves the COMPREPLY array empty, which in turn causes
Bash to fall back to its simple filename completion and lists all
files in that directory, i.e. both 'file.c' and 'file.o'.
- The quoting/escaping is in the path component to be completed.
Let's suppose we have two untracked files 'New File.c' and
'New File.o', and we have a gitignore rule ignoring object files.
In this case all of these:
git add New\ Fi<TAB>
git add "New Fi<TAB>
git add 'New Fi<TAB>
should uniquely complete 'New File.c' right away, but Bash offers
both 'New File.c' and 'New File.o' instead. The reason for this
behavior is that our completion script uses this 'New\ Fi' or
'"New Fi' etc. word to filter matching paths, and of course none
of the potential filenames will match because of the included
backslash or double quote. The end result is the same as above:
the completion script doesn't list any files, Bash falls back to
its filename completion, which then lists the matching object file
as well.
Add the new helper function __git_dequote() [1], which removes (most
of[2]) the quoting and escaping from the word it gets as argument. To
minimize the overhead of calling this function, store its result in
the variable $dequoted_word, supposed to be declared local in the
caller; simply printing the result would require a command
substitution imposing the overhead of fork()ing a subshell. Use this
function in __git_complete_index_file() to dequote the current word,
i.e. the path, to be completed, to avoid the above described
quoting-related issues, thereby fixing two of the failing quoted path
completion tests.
[1] The bash-completion project already has a dequote() function,
which I hoped I could borrow to deal with this, but unfortunately
it doesn't work quite well for this purpose (perhaps that's why
even the bash-completion project only rarely uses it). The main
issue is that their dequote() is implemented as:
eval printf %s "$1" 2> /dev/null
where $1 would contain the word to be completed. While it's a
short and sweet one-liner, the use of 'eval' requires that $1 is a
syntactically valid string, which is not the case when quoting the
path like 'git add "New Dir/<TAB>'. This causes 'eval' to fail,
because it can't find the matching closing double quote, and the
function returns nothing. The result is totally broken behavior,
as if the current word were empty, and the completion script would
then list all files from the current directory. This is why one
of the quoted path completion tests specifically checks the
completion of a path with an opening but without a corresponding
closing double quote character. Furthermore, the 'eval' performs
all kinds of expansions, which may or may not be desired; I think
it's the latter. Finally, using this function would require a
command substitution.
[2] Bash understands the $'string' quoting as well, which "expands to
'string', with backslash-escaped characters replaced as specified
by the ANSI C standard" (quoted from Bash manpage). Since shell
metacharacters, field separators, globbing, etc. can all be easily
entered using standard shell escaping or quoting, this type of
quoting comes in handly when dealing with control characters that
are otherwise difficult both to "type" and to see on the command
line. Because of this difficulty I would assume that people do
avoid pathnames with such control characters anyway, so I didn't
bother implementing it. This function is already way too long as
it is.
Signed-off-by: SZEDER Gábor <szeder.dev@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
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