Re: [Bug-readline] readline fails completion when a softlink to a directory is involved

[Chet Ramey]

Eduardo Sanz-Garcia wrote:

> Machine Type: i686-redhat-linux-gnu
>
> Bash Version: 3.0
> Patch Level: 15
> Release Status: release
>
> *Description:*
>     readline completion problem when using symbolic links
>
> *Repeat-By:*
> Create the following directory tree:
>    .
>    |-area ....
>    |         :
>    |         :
>    |         :
>    |-level1  :
>       |      V
>       |-level2a: 1,2,3
>       |
>       |-level2b: a,b,c
>
>  ... represent symbolic link
>
> mkdir level1
>
> mkdir level1/level2a
> mkdir level1/level2b
>
> touch level1/level2a/1
> touch level1/level2a/2
> touch level1/level2a/3
>
> touch level1/level2b/a
> touch level1/level2b/b
> touch level1/level2b/c
>
> ln -s level1/level2a area
>
> Type: "ls area/../l"  and press tab.
> If level1 is the autocompletion choice it is wrong.
> The correct choices are level2a and level2b.
>
> Thank you very much. And sorry in advance if this is not a real problem.

This isn't really a readline problem, since bash controls this aspect
of filename completion.

Bash maintains a logical view of the file system.  This means that `..'
moves one directory back in a pathname, regardless of the physical
hierarchy.  In this case, that means that `area/..' disappears.  This
logical view of the file system is the default, as specified by Posix,
and is maintained through cd and pwd/$PWD and honored by other parts
of the shell that resolve directory pathnames.

If you're uncomfortable with the logical view of the file system and the
default treatment of `..', you can use `set -o physical' to force the
shell to always use physical pathnames.

Chet
--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer

Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU    address@hidden    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/