bug#8513: stat list file name

[Jesse Gordon]

On 04/16/2011 07:47 PM, - - wrote:
> here a small bug in stat:
>
> stat -c %n *
> stat : option invalide -- 's'
> Saisissez « stat --help » pour plus d'informations.
>
> ls
> address@hidden&.txt
>
> stat is not able to list a direstory if a file start with a -
>
>
>    
That's not a bug with stat. It's due to the fact that the general unix 
style of command parameters starts with a dash. The problem is that for 
40 years, the writers of utilities assumed nobody would ever name a file 
starting with a dash -- which is why they used a dash to indicate a 
command line parameter.

Almost all utilities which use command line parameters or options which 
start with a dash will have the same problem with any file that starts 
with a dash, because when they see a "-" they think it's a parameter or 
option instead of a file.

The solution is to provide a fuller path to the file. Instead of doing 
stat * do stat ./*   or if the file is named -something, do stat 
./-something.  The leading "./" (which stands for "Current directory) 
comes in front of the dash and so stat doesn't think it's a parameter or 
option.

Jesse Gordon