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doc: rewrite the "Unusual File Names" section

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* doc/diffutils.texi (Unusual File Names): Rewrite to reflect
that file names with e.g., NL and TAB are now quoted.
Reported by Matěj Cepl in <https://bugs.gnu.org/68695>.
This commit is contained in:
Jim Meyering 2025-01-05 11:35:28 -08:00
parent 733e2f6d7f
commit dfaa846f09
1 changed files with 8 additions and 7 deletions
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doc/diffutils.texi
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@ -4750,13 +4750,14 @@ and @command{patch} should be extended to understand these extensions.
@subsection File Names that Contain Unusual Characters
@cindex file names with unusual characters
When a file name contains an unusual character like a newline or
white space, @samp{diff -r} generates a patch that @command{patch} cannot
parse. The problem is with format of @command{diff} output, not just with
@command{patch}, because with odd enough file names one can cause
@command{diff} to generate a patch that is syntactically correct but
patches the wrong files. The format of @command{diff} output should be
extended to handle all possible file names.
Since diffutils-3.3, file names have been encoded to eliminate the ambiguity
of unusual characters like newline and TAB.
However, since any file name containing a newline may easily cause trouble,
in so many contexts (not just diff and patch), a future version of
diff may well reject attempts to operate on such names.
@c FIXME-in-2026 consider rejecting NL-afflicted file names
@c keep an eye on POSIX, e.g.,
@c https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/utilities/diff.html
@node Timestamp Order
@subsection Outputting Diffs in Timestamp Order