Re: grep . /; echo $?

[Benno Schulenberg]

Julian Foad wrote:
> > bash$ src/grep asdf *
> > src/grep: autom4te.cache: Is a directory
> > src/grep: bootstrap: Is a directory
>
> Andreas Schwab wrote:
> > All it would need to do is add some descriptive comment, like
> > "cannot read %s:", where %s substitutes the file name, before
> > the errno text.
>
> Yes, that's true: the message could quite easily be extended or
> replaced, but is this really something that needs fixing?

No, it doesn't need fixing.  But is there anything against making 
the message a little clearer?  And as these lines are now going to 
get changed anyway, why not seize the opportunity?  Why not 
something like:

@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
 suppressible_error (char const *mesg, int errnum)
 {
   if (! suppress_errors)
-    error (0, errnum, "%s", mesg);
+    error (0, errnum, "Cannot read %s", mesg);
   errseen = 1;
 }

> It's fairly obvious from its form that it's an error message.

Well, to an experienced user, certainly.  But to a newcomer?  Not to 
me it wasn't.  When I first did a 'grep sth *' and got those "Is a 
directory" messages, I tought: "Yes, I know.  What's wrong?"

> There's not much point in changing one program to be
> different from the others.

It's not really different, just more precise.

Benno