bug#71803: ls --time=mtime is sorting by name instead of mtime

[Pádraig Brady]

On 27/06/2024 16:05, Dave wrote:
> The ls command without the -l option and with the --time=mtime option,
> is incorrectly sorting by the name rather than by the modification
> time.
>
> ls               # sorts by name (ok)
> ls --time=mtime  # sorts by name (should sort by mtime)

> // The current statement in ls.c (lines 2383-2387)
>    sort_type = (0 <= sort_opt ? sort_opt
>                 : (format != long_format
>                    && (time_type == time_ctime || time_type == time_atime
>                        || time_type == time_btime))
>                 ? sort_time : sort_name);
>
> // Proposed correction (untested)
>    sort_type = (0 <= sort_opt ? sort_opt
>                 : (format != long_format
>                    && (time_type == time_ctime || time_type == time_atime
>                        || time_type == time_btime || time_type == time_mtime))
>                 ? sort_time : sort_name);

Right, we should be applying this GNU extension to --time=mtime also.
I.e. sorting when not displaying time (-l not specified),
and no other sorting specific option is used.

The proposed fix wouldn't work as time_mtime is the default,
so we'd be sorting by mtime rather than name by default.

I'll apply the attached later to address this.

Marking this as done.

thanks,
Pádraig

ls--time=mtime-sort.diff
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