View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | View Status | Date Submitted | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0000117 | 1003.1(2008)/Issue 7 | Shell and Utilities | public | 2009-07-10 10:59 | 2013-04-16 13:06 |
| Reporter | geoffclare | Assigned To | ajosey | ||
| Priority | normal | Severity | Objection | Type | Error |
| Status | Closed | Resolution | Accepted | ||
| Name | Geoff Clare | ||||
| Organization | The Open Group | ||||
| User Reference | |||||
| Section | ls | ||||
| Page Number | 2867, 2868 | ||||
| Line Number | 93866, 93873, 93892 | ||||
| Interp Status | Approved | ||||
| Final Accepted Text | 0000117:0000196 | ||||
| Summary | 0000117: ls -l output format and "number of bytes" | ||||
| Description | The ls -l output format requires the "number of bytes in the file" to be output for all file types, except character special and block special files. This is inconsistent with the requirements for the st_size field of struct stat: the <sys/stat.h> page in XBD7 describes its contents for regular files, symbolic links, shared memory objects and typed memory objects, and says "For other file types, the use of this field is unspecified." In particular, st_size is unspecified for directories, FIFOs and sockets, whereas ls -l is required to output the number of bytes in these files. In practice, implementations of ls just output whatever value is returned in st_size for these file types. There is a related problem with the stated exception for character special and block special files (line 93892). Although it says the file size may be replaced by "implementation-defined information associated with the device", it doesn't state an exception for the format specifier used, which is %u. This means the output must contain a single number in place of the size, whereas existing practice is to output two numbers separated by a comma and a space. | ||||
| Desired Action | At line 93864, change: If the -l option is specified without -L, the following information shall be written: "%s %u %s %s %u %s %s\n", <file mode>, <number of links>, <owner name>, <group name>, <number of bytes in the file>, <date and time>, <pathname> If the file is a symbolic link, this information shall be about the link itself and the <pathname> field shall be of the form: "%s -> %s", <pathname of link>, <contents of link> If both -l and -L are specified, the following information shall be written: "%s %u %s %s %u %s %s\n", <file mode>, <number of links>, <owner name>, <group name>, <number of bytes in the file>, <date and time>, <pathname of link> where all fields except <pathname of link> shall be for the file resolved from the symbolic link. to: If the -l option is specified, the following information shall be written for files other than character special and block special files: "%s %u %s %s %u %s %s\n", <file mode>, <number of links>, <owner name>, <group name>, <size>, <date and time>, <pathname> If the -l option is specified, the following information shall be written for character special and block special files: "%s %u %s %s %s %s %s\n", <file mode>, <number of links>, <owner name>, <group name>, <device info>, <date and time>, <pathname> In both cases if the file is a symbolic link and the -L option is also specified, this information shall be for the file resolved from the symbolic link except that the <pathname> field shall contain the pathname of the symbolic link itself. If the file is a symbolic link and the -L option is not specified, this information shall be about the link itself and the <pathname> field shall be of the form: "%s -> %s", <pathname of link>, <contents of link> After line 93879 add two new paragraphs: The <size> field shall contain the value that would be returned for the file in the st_size field of struct stat (see [xref to XBD <sys/stat.h>]). Note that for some file types this value is unspecified. The <device info> field shall contain implementation-defined information associated with the device in question. At line 93892 delete: If the file is a character special or block special file, the size of the file may be replaced with implementation-defined information associated with the device in question. | ||||
| Tags | tc1-2008 | ||||
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Interpretation response ------------------------ The standard states the requirements for the output of the ls utility and conforming implementations must conform to this. However, concerns have been raised about this which are being referred to the sponsor. Rationale: ------------- None. Notes to the Editor (not part of this interpretation): ------------------------------------------------------- Make the change suggested by the submitter |
| Date Modified | Username | Field | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | New Issue | |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Status | New => Under Review |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Assigned To | => ajosey |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Name | => Geoff Clare |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Organization | => The Open Group |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Section | => ls |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Page Number | => 2867, 2868 |
| 2009-07-10 10:59 | geoffclare | Line Number | => 93866, 93873, 93892 |
| 2009-08-13 16:12 | ajosey | Interp Status | => Pending |
| 2009-08-13 16:12 | ajosey | Note Added: 0000196 | |
| 2009-08-13 16:12 | ajosey | Status | Under Review => Interpretation Required |
| 2009-08-13 16:12 | ajosey | Resolution | Open => Accepted |
| 2009-09-17 15:41 | nick | Interp Status | Pending => Proposed |
| 2009-10-12 05:58 | ajosey | Note Edited: 0000196 | |
| 2009-10-12 05:59 | ajosey | Interp Status | Proposed => Approved |
| 2009-10-12 05:59 | ajosey | Final Accepted Text | => 0000117:0000196 |
| 2010-09-21 11:09 | geoffclare | Tag Attached: tc1-2008 | |
| 2013-04-16 13:06 | ajosey | Status | Interpretation Required => Closed |
