Why does `find -print0` still escape newlines?












1















I'm confused by this experiment (in Bash):



$ mkdir 'foon'

$ find . -print0 | od -c

0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o      n  

0000012


As you can see, "find" is correctly delimiting the output with null characters, but it escapes the newline in the directory name as "foon" with a backslash "n". Why is it doing this? I told it "-print0" which says "This allows file names that contain newlines ... to be correctly interpreted by programs that process the find output." The escaping should not be necessary, since "" is the delimiter, not "n".






coreutils






share























  • You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

    – Michael Homer
    2 mins ago


















1















I'm confused by this experiment (in Bash):



$ mkdir 'foon'

$ find . -print0 | od -c

0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o      n  

0000012


As you can see, "find" is correctly delimiting the output with null characters, but it escapes the newline in the directory name as "foon" with a backslash "n". Why is it doing this? I told it "-print0" which says "This allows file names that contain newlines ... to be correctly interpreted by programs that process the find output." The escaping should not be necessary, since "" is the delimiter, not "n".






coreutils






share























  • You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

    – Michael Homer
    2 mins ago
















1












1








1








I'm confused by this experiment (in Bash):



$ mkdir 'foon'

$ find . -print0 | od -c

0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o      n  

0000012


As you can see, "find" is correctly delimiting the output with null characters, but it escapes the newline in the directory name as "foon" with a backslash "n". Why is it doing this? I told it "-print0" which says "This allows file names that contain newlines ... to be correctly interpreted by programs that process the find output." The escaping should not be necessary, since "" is the delimiter, not "n".






coreutils






share














I'm confused by this experiment (in Bash):



$ mkdir 'foon'

$ find . -print0 | od -c

0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o      n  

0000012


As you can see, "find" is correctly delimiting the output with null characters, but it escapes the newline in the directory name as "foon" with a backslash "n". Why is it doing this? I told it "-print0" which says "This allows file names that contain newlines ... to be correctly interpreted by programs that process the find output." The escaping should not be necessary, since "" is the delimiter, not "n".






coreutils




coreutils





share












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share



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asked 8 mins ago









MetamorphicMetamorphic

27618




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  • You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

    – Michael Homer
    2 mins ago





















  • You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

    – Michael Homer
    2 mins ago



















You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

– Michael Homer
2 mins ago







You made a directory called literally foon, with a backslash in its name.

– Michael Homer
2 mins ago












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















0














The problem is not in find, but in how you're creating this directory. The single quoted string 'foon' is actually a 5-character string, of which the last two are a backslash and a lowercase "n".



Double-quoting it doesn't help either, since double-quoted strings in shell use backslash as an escape character, but don't really interpret any of the C-style backslash sequences.



In a shell such as bash or zsh, etc. (but not dash from Debian/Ubuntu), you can use $"...", which interprets those sequences:



$ mkdir $"foon"


Another option, that should work in any shell compatible with bourne shell is to insert an actual newline:



$ mkdir 'foo

'


That's an actual Return at the end of the first line, only closing the single quote on the second line.





share































    0














    Let's make a directory named foo plus a newline:



    $ mkdir $'foon'


    Now, let's use find:



    $ find .  -print0 | od -c
    
0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o  n  
    
0000011


    n is not escaped.



    The issue is that 'foon' is foo followed by followed by n. We can verify that with:



    $ printf '%s' 'foon' | od -c
    
0000000   f   o   o      n
    
0000005




    share























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      2 Answers
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      2 Answers
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      active

      oldest

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      0














      The problem is not in find, but in how you're creating this directory. The single quoted string 'foon' is actually a 5-character string, of which the last two are a backslash and a lowercase "n".



      Double-quoting it doesn't help either, since double-quoted strings in shell use backslash as an escape character, but don't really interpret any of the C-style backslash sequences.



      In a shell such as bash or zsh, etc. (but not dash from Debian/Ubuntu), you can use $"...", which interprets those sequences:



      $ mkdir $"foon"


      Another option, that should work in any shell compatible with bourne shell is to insert an actual newline:



      $ mkdir 'foo
      
'


      That's an actual Return at the end of the first line, only closing the single quote on the second line.





      share




























        0














        The problem is not in find, but in how you're creating this directory. The single quoted string 'foon' is actually a 5-character string, of which the last two are a backslash and a lowercase "n".



        Double-quoting it doesn't help either, since double-quoted strings in shell use backslash as an escape character, but don't really interpret any of the C-style backslash sequences.



        In a shell such as bash or zsh, etc. (but not dash from Debian/Ubuntu), you can use $"...", which interprets those sequences:



        $ mkdir $"foon"


        Another option, that should work in any shell compatible with bourne shell is to insert an actual newline:



        $ mkdir 'foo
        
'


        That's an actual Return at the end of the first line, only closing the single quote on the second line.





        share


























          0












          0








          0







          The problem is not in find, but in how you're creating this directory. The single quoted string 'foon' is actually a 5-character string, of which the last two are a backslash and a lowercase "n".



          Double-quoting it doesn't help either, since double-quoted strings in shell use backslash as an escape character, but don't really interpret any of the C-style backslash sequences.



          In a shell such as bash or zsh, etc. (but not dash from Debian/Ubuntu), you can use $"...", which interprets those sequences:



          $ mkdir $"foon"


          Another option, that should work in any shell compatible with bourne shell is to insert an actual newline:



          $ mkdir 'foo
          
'


          That's an actual Return at the end of the first line, only closing the single quote on the second line.





          share













          The problem is not in find, but in how you're creating this directory. The single quoted string 'foon' is actually a 5-character string, of which the last two are a backslash and a lowercase "n".



          Double-quoting it doesn't help either, since double-quoted strings in shell use backslash as an escape character, but don't really interpret any of the C-style backslash sequences.



          In a shell such as bash or zsh, etc. (but not dash from Debian/Ubuntu), you can use $"...", which interprets those sequences:



          $ mkdir $"foon"


          Another option, that should work in any shell compatible with bourne shell is to insert an actual newline:



          $ mkdir 'foo
          
'


          That's an actual Return at the end of the first line, only closing the single quote on the second line.






          share











          share


          share










          answered 47 secs ago









          filbrandenfilbranden

          8,71621241




          8,71621241

























              0














              Let's make a directory named foo plus a newline:



              $ mkdir $'foon'


              Now, let's use find:



              $ find .  -print0 | od -c
              
0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o  n  
              
0000011


              n is not escaped.



              The issue is that 'foon' is foo followed by followed by n. We can verify that with:



              $ printf '%s' 'foon' | od -c
              
0000000   f   o   o      n
              
0000005




              share




























                0














                Let's make a directory named foo plus a newline:



                $ mkdir $'foon'


                Now, let's use find:



                $ find .  -print0 | od -c
                
0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o  n  
                
0000011


                n is not escaped.



                The issue is that 'foon' is foo followed by followed by n. We can verify that with:



                $ printf '%s' 'foon' | od -c
                
0000000   f   o   o      n
                
0000005




                share


























                  0












                  0








                  0







                  Let's make a directory named foo plus a newline:



                  $ mkdir $'foon'


                  Now, let's use find:



                  $ find .  -print0 | od -c
                  
0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o  n  
                  
0000011


                  n is not escaped.



                  The issue is that 'foon' is foo followed by followed by n. We can verify that with:



                  $ printf '%s' 'foon' | od -c
                  
0000000   f   o   o      n
                  
0000005




                  share













                  Let's make a directory named foo plus a newline:



                  $ mkdir $'foon'


                  Now, let's use find:



                  $ find .  -print0 | od -c
                  
0000000   .     .   /   f   o   o  n  
                  
0000011


                  n is not escaped.



                  The issue is that 'foon' is foo followed by followed by n. We can verify that with:



                  $ printf '%s' 'foon' | od -c
                  
0000000   f   o   o      n
                  
0000005





                  share











                  share


                  share










                  answered just now









                  John1024John1024

                  47k5110125




                  47k5110125






























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