Re: Filenames containing blanks

[Guido Draheim]

Ralf Corsepius wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Simple question: Does automake support filenames containing blanks?
>
> I fear, the answer is no:
>
> # cat Makefile.am:
> data_DATA = foo\ 1
>
> # make DESTDIR=/tmp install
> ..
> /bin/sh ./mkinstalldirs /tmp/usr/local/share
> mkdir -p -- /tmp/usr/local/share
>  /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./foo\ /tmp/usr/local/share/foo\
> /usr/bin/install: cannot stat `./foo\\': No such file or directory
>  /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ./1 /tmp/usr/local/share/1
> /usr/bin/install: cannot stat `./1': No such file or directory
> make[1]: *** [install-dist_dataDATA] Error 1
> ..
>
> Either I must be missing something (May-be I am quoting the blank
> incorrectly?) or something is broken ...

# this is what we might expect...
$ for i in hello\ 1 2 ; do echo $i ; done
hello 1
2

# this is what is done for real...
v='hello\ 1 2' ; for i in $v ; do echo $i ; done
hello\
1
2

# changing any quotes does not help...
$ v='hello\ 1 2' ; for i in "$v" ; do echo $i ; done
hello\ 1 2
$ v="hello\ 1 2" ; for i in "$v" ; do echo $i ; done
hello\ 1 2
$ v="hello\ 1 2" ; for i in $v ; do echo $i ; done
hello\
1
2

the assignment to a variable before for-in might have
been introduced to avoid problems with an empty list
which results in a syntax error on some platforms
(try `for i in; do`) but I've seen other solutions that
work just as well, like
for i in $(libs) : ; test "$$i" != ":" || continue;...

Ooops, I just had a look into am/data.am, and there is
the very comment which I've just guessed above:
## Funny invocation because Makefile variable can be empty, leading to
## a syntax error in sh.
        @list='$(%DIR%_%PRIMARY%)'; for p in $$list; do \

cheers,
-- guido                                  http://google.de/search?q=guidod
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