Re: Proposal to add /usr/bin/shquote

[Aleksej Saushev <asau%inbox.ru@localhost>]

Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost> writes:

> On Sat, 06 Sep 2008, Aleksej Saushev wrote:
>> > I often find the need, in shell scripts, to escape arguments to be
>> > passed to other shell commands.  I'd like to add a /usr/bin/shquote
>> > command as a simple wrapper around shquotev(3) to do this.
>> Why not import real programming language for that? TCL, for instance.
>
> So your solution would be to have my shell script do something like
> this:
>
>       listvar="$( tclsh /wherever/somescript arg1 arg2 )"
>
> instead of what I can already do using my own shell function or shell
> script (invoking sed(1) and printf(1)), or what I propose to do using a
> compiled C program (invoking shquotev(3)):
>
>       listvar="$( shquote arg1 arg2 )"
>
> Your solution would require both writing the tcl script, and importing
> tcl to the NetBSD base system.  I don't see that as any simpler than what
> I proposed.

It is. I assure you, that it is better to learn TCL than
fighting shell quotations, sed, test, and company.
It is simpler and faster, and doesn't involve ad hoc C-written
tools for subtasks, when it becomes too hard to continue with sh.
Importing TCL is one-time task. Yes, it is big task, I know that
pretty well, but it saves your time in future.


-- 
HE CE3OH...