Repository navigation
Filenames / dirnames with a leading hyphen: a CLI argument issue #10661
Description
- Version: 7.4.0
- Platform: Windows 7 x64
- Subsystem: cli
I don't know if this is a deprecated style in *nix to start filenames with a hyphen, but in Windows, it seems there are no shell problems with it: dir -test or type -test.txt are OK. However, Node.js confuses these names with arguments:
node -test.js
node: bad option: -test.js
node -test\test.js
node: bad option: -test\test.js
If this is a wontfix, maybe it worth to be documented in the 'Command Line Options' doc.
Activity
addaleax commentedon Jan 6, 2017
The “standard” way of working around that problem would be using
node ./-test.js.But maybe #10651 could be updated to address this use case, too? /cc @jBarz
jBarz commentedon Jan 6, 2017
The only way to do this would be to introduce a new option like
-f <filename>So CLI usage now becomes
node [options] [v8 options] [ [ -f ] script.js | -e "script"] [arguments]The code change wouldn't be trivial in my estimation so probably better to open a separate PR.
jasnell commentedon Jan 6, 2017
I'd rather not introduce a new command line flag for this, especially given that there are ways of working around it already.
addaleax commentedon Jan 6, 2017
Why wouldn’t
--work?jBarz commentedon Jan 6, 2017
Do you mean
node -- -test.js?addaleax commentedon Jan 6, 2017
@jBarz exactly. ;) The solution in your PR seems tailored for
-e/-pbut I’m not sure it actually needs to be?jBarz commentedon Jan 6, 2017
Yes, that would work ! My reason for using "--" in #10651 comes from the POSIX.2 standard
So using the "--" for any other purpose would deviate from other unix tools, I think.
addaleax commentedon Jan 6, 2017
@jBarz Okay, would you want to update the PR with this then? :) It looks to me like you’d just need to drop the
&& eval_string != nullptrbit but I may be mistaken.Fishrock123 commentedon Jan 6, 2017
I do not think that
--is the correct syntax for this.node ./-test.jsseems like the best way to go.addaleax commentedon Jan 6, 2017
I mean… it’s pretty standard to support it that way?
Fishrock123 commentedon Jan 8, 2017
I think that conflicts with the potential use in #10651 though?
sam-github commentedon Jan 9, 2017
@jBarz I don't understand why the
--suggestion (node -- -test.js) conflicts with the docs you quote, or with #10651. Perhaps the word "operand" means something different to you than to @addaleax and I?Traditional UNIX usage, which is what is usually specified by POSIX, is that getopt() and similar stop treating
-to be meaningful after the--, which seems to be called for here.The
./trick is also time-honoured.What is the distinction you are drawing?
jBarz commentedon Jan 9, 2017
Ahh, I initially understood operands to be just the args passed into the script. i.e.
node <options> script.js <operands>But I believe what you are saying is that the operands include the script name. i.e.
node <options> <operands>where
operands = "<script name> <arg1> <arg2> ..."sam-github commentedon Jan 9, 2017
I could be missing a corner case, and the distinction between node and v8, but above is my understanding.
jBarz commentedon Feb 15, 2017
This can be closed.
0a9f360 fixes the "--" option so that you can now do the following.
node -- -test.jsaddaleax commentedon Feb 15, 2017
Yup, this should work fine now. :)