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ID Category Severity Type Date Submitted Last Update
0000806 [1003.1(2013)/Issue7+TC1] System Interfaces Editorial Clarification Requested 2013-12-01 19:22 2019-06-10 08:55
Reporter dalias View Status public  
Assigned To
Priority normal Resolution Accepted As Marked  
Status Closed  
Name Rich Felker
Organization musl libc
User Reference
Section fnmatch
Page Number 881
Line Number 29477-29480
Interp Status Approved
Final Accepted Text Note: 0002147
Summary 0000806: fnmatch behavior unclear when pattern ends in backslash
Description As fnmatch is specified,

"If FNM_NOESCAPE is not set in flags, a <backslash> character in pattern followed by any other character shall match that second character in string."

My interpretation is that a backslash at the end of pattern is not "a <backslash> character in pattern followed by any other character", and thus this rule does not apply; therefore, such a backslash is to be treated like any other literal. However, I initially thought this was an erroneous pattern, and I could see others conceivably interpreting the terminating null of pattern as a character so that the final backslash would "escape" the null and would either match the terminating null in string (if it's treated as part of string) or fail to be matchable (since a null character cannot appear in a string).
Desired Action Please clarify which interpretation is correct, if any, and what requirements are placed on an implementation when pattern ends in a backslash.
Tags tc2-2008
Attached Files

- Relationships

-  Notes
(0002077)
shware_systems (reporter)
2013-12-17 08:51
edited on: 2013-12-17 19:34

From Line 75038, XCU 2.13.1 "This escaping <backslash> is discarded." . As the terminating NUL is not part of the pattern, and is specifically disallowed as being part of a pattern by 2.13.1, it seems a trailing <backslash> is simply supposed to be discarded and doesn't match anything.

Suggest at Page 881, Line 29479, Insert after "string.":
"A single <backslash> as the last character of a pattern shall be ignored rather than return an ill-formed escape sequence error."

(0002079)
dalias (reporter)
2013-12-17 18:15

XCU is not normative for the fnmatch function, only for utilities. While I agree it may make sense to make it consistent, I think that deviates from the current wording of the standard.

As for the suggested insertion, the way you've worded it is self-contradictory. Being "ignored" and treated "as an ill-formed escape sequence" are mutually exclusive. The former would imply "a\" matches "a". The latter would imply that a pattern of "a\" is an error which required fnmatch to a return a value distinct from both 0 and FNM_NOMATCH.
(0002080)
shware_systems (reporter)
2013-12-17 19:27

This is one of the few cases where it is cross volume normative, rather than repeat ALL the material from the shell language chapter related to patterns. That XCU page cross refs to fnmatch() specifically. I've edited the suggested text.
(0002126)
nick (manager)
2014-02-06 17:33

Test program:
#include <fnmatch.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
        int err;
        switch (err = fnmatch(argc > 2 ? argv[2] : "*\\", argc > 1 ? argv[1] : "
;", FNM_PATHNAME))
        {
                case 0: printf("Match\n"); break;
                case FNM_NOMATCH: printf("No match\n"); break;
                default: printf("Error\n"); break;
        }
        return 0;
}
(0002133)
Don Cragun (manager)
2014-02-07 10:05

OS X prints "No match" for the test program in Note: 0002126
(0002147)
geoffclare (manager)
2014-02-20 17:31
edited on: 2014-02-20 17:35

Interpretation response
------------------------

The standard does not speak to this issue, and as such no conformance
distinction can be made between alternative implementations based on
this. This is being referred to the sponsor.

Rationale:
-------------
Existing practice is for a pattern ending in an unescaped
<backslash> not to match anything, but it would be useful to allow
implementations to diagnose this as user error.

Notes to the Editor (not part of this interpretation):
-------------------------------------------------------

At page 881 line 29479 after:

    In particular, "\\" shall match a <backslash> in string.

Add:

   If pattern ends with an unescaped <backslash>, fnmatch() shall return a non-zero value (indicating either no match or an error).

Cross-volume change to XCU...
At page 2354 line 75017 section 2.13.1 after:

   The escaping <backslash> shall be discarded.

Add:

   If a pattern ends with an unescaped <backslash>, it is unspecified
   whether the pattern does not match anything or the pattern is treated
   as invalid.

(0002151)
ajosey (manager)
2014-02-21 15:38

Interpretation Proposed 21 Feb 2014
(0002200)
ajosey (manager)
2014-03-25 13:42

Interpretation Approved: 25 March 2014

- Issue History
Date Modified Username Field Change
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias New Issue
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias Name => Rich Felker
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias Organization => musl libc
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias Section => fnmatch
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias Page Number => unknown
2013-12-01 19:22 dalias Line Number => unknown
2013-12-17 08:51 shware_systems Note Added: 0002077
2013-12-17 08:51 shware_systems Note Edited: 0002077
2013-12-17 18:15 dalias Note Added: 0002079
2013-12-17 19:27 shware_systems Note Added: 0002080
2013-12-17 19:34 shware_systems Note Edited: 0002077
2013-12-17 19:56 Don Cragun Page Number unknown => 881
2013-12-17 19:56 Don Cragun Line Number unknown => 29477-29480
2013-12-17 19:56 Don Cragun Interp Status => ---
2014-02-06 17:33 nick Note Added: 0002126
2014-02-06 17:33 nick Note Added: 0002127
2014-02-06 17:33 nick Note Deleted: 0002127
2014-02-07 10:05 Don Cragun Note Added: 0002133
2014-02-20 17:31 geoffclare Interp Status --- => Pending
2014-02-20 17:31 geoffclare Note Added: 0002147
2014-02-20 17:31 geoffclare Status New => Interpretation Required
2014-02-20 17:31 geoffclare Resolution Open => Accepted As Marked
2014-02-20 17:32 geoffclare Final Accepted Text => Note: 0002147
2014-02-20 17:32 geoffclare Tag Attached: tc2-2008
2014-02-20 17:35 eblake Note Edited: 0002147
2014-02-21 15:38 ajosey Interp Status Pending => Proposed
2014-02-21 15:38 ajosey Note Added: 0002151
2014-03-25 13:42 ajosey Interp Status Proposed => Approved
2014-03-25 13:42 ajosey Note Added: 0002200
2019-06-10 08:55 agadmin Status Interpretation Required => Closed


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