Re: spaces...

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: omer <address@hidden>
> Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:46:53 +0200
> 
> Hi,
> 
> > I would like to test if a library file exist. To make this, I have used the
> > function "wildcard" who return me nothing if the file doesn't exist. My
> > problem is when the full path of the file contain a space. In this case,
> > the function wildcard test separately the different parts around the space
> > and so see nothing... To manipulate a list of files with spaces I have
> > replace the spaces by a pattern and the others spaces are only to separate
> > the elements of the list. So my question is : Can I use a specific pattern
> > to replace the space who will be recognize by the function wildcard as a
> > space in my file name (and not as a space-separation of the list) ? (like
> > "\ " or "%SPACE%", etc.) Or what other solution is possible to test if a
> > file (with spaces in his name) exist ? I use my makefile on Linux, Mac and
> > Windows (and a stup** man has called the main directory "Program Files").
> > Best regards,
> > Fabien
> 
> afaik make doesn't like spaces in filenames and their use is strongly 
> discouraged. I think there are some tricks to handle them but it'll soon 
> become a nightmare to maintain (I've read something about that, probably in 
> the info page, but can't find it now). So if possible I'd rather suggest to 
> modify your project and just avoid them.
> 

One trick is to use the short 8+3 alias of the long file name.  For
example, the short alias of "Program Files" is "PROGRA~1" on most
machines (use "dir /x" to show the actual short alias on your system).