bug#17384: "bug" in the Unix "cat" command

[Bernhard Voelker]

tags 17384 notabug
close 17384
stop

On 05/01/2014 10:52 PM, Bernhard Voelker wrote:
> If the output file had previously existed (so that the file name
> globbing would let it match the pattern), then cat(1) would have
> complained:
>
>    $ src/cat isi.*.02p0 >isi.Rall.0400.02p0
>    src/cat: isi.Rall.0400.02p0: input file is output file
>
> That means that on your system
> a) the shell opened the output file before doing the pattern matching,
> and b) cat(1) was unable to detect that the output file is the same
> as the input file.
> As that check is included in GNU coreutils' cat(1) since day one,
> this issue is not a matter of an outdated version of cat(1).
>
> What system are you using (OS, file system type, shell, shell version,
> and finally 'cat --version')?

As confirmed in private email, the system was "Mac OS X 10.9.2 (Mavericks)"
... and the OP was using the Apple version of 'cat'.
I'm therefore marking this as not a bug and closing it.

Have a nice day,
Berny