grep-2.5 problems with Solaris and with the GNU coding standards

[Paul Eggert]

> Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 03:11:27 -0500 (EST)
> From: "Steven M. Christensen" <address@hidden>

> when I run ./configure [on Solaris I] ... eventually get
>   checking How to create links... ./configure: test: argument expected
> and then it stops.

There are two problems here.  First, grep's configure uses "test -L"
and "test -e", which are not portable.  But this stems from a
different problem.  One of the last changes installed into grep 2.5
before it was released was this:

        2002-03-13  Bernhard Rosenkraenzer <address@hidden>

                * configure.in, src/Makefile.am: Don't duplicate code - make
                  egrep and fgrep links to grep and set matcher based on
                  application name, suggestion from
                  Guillaume Cottenceau <address@hidden>

But this change violates the GNU coding standards, as described in this
earlier ChangeLog entry:

        1997-07-17 Alain Magloire <address@hidden>

                * egrep, fgrep were links This is in violation of GNU
                standards: "Please don't make the behavior of a
                utility depend on the name used to invoke it.  It is
                useful sometimes to make a link to a utility with a
                different name, and that should not change what it
                does."  For now egrep and fgrep will be copies of
                grep. A better scheme should be found later.  After
                discussion with Tom Tromey <address@hidden>.


Here is a proposed patch.


2002-03-15  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        Fix the following three problems:

          . A porting problem with "test -L" and "test -e",
            which do not work on some Solaris versions.

          . The lack of conformance to the GNU coding standards noted in tne
            1997-07-17 ChangeLog entry.

          . The duplication of code noted in the 2002-03-13 ChangeLog entry.

        by changing "egrep" and "fgrep" to be little shell scripts instead
        of symbolic links.  This is a tiny bit slower, but it fixes the bug.
        People who want more speed should use "grep -E" and "grep -F".

        * configure.in (SYMLINK, SYMLINKFROM): Remove.  This code
        wasn't portable, and is no longer needed now.

        * src/Makefile.am (bin_SCRIPTS): New macro.
        (egrep, fgrep): New rules.
        Install egrep and fgrep as shell scripts, not as hard links.

        * src/grep.c (main): The behavior should not depend on the
        program name, to conform to the GNU coding standards.

===================================================================
RCS file: configure.in,v
retrieving revision 2.5
retrieving revision 2.5.0.1
diff -pu -r2.5 -r2.5.0.1
--- configure.in        2002/03/13 15:16:03     2.5
+++ configure.in        2002/03/15 13:10:52     2.5.0.1
@@ -141,28 +141,4 @@ if test x"$testpcre" = x"yes"; then
        AC_CHECK_LIB(pcre, pcre_exec)
 fi
 
-dnl Check how to create the {e,f}grep links
-AC_MSG_CHECKING([How to create links])
-rm -f test00 test01
-touch test00
-ln -s test00 test01 || :
-SYMLINK=""
-SYMLINKFROM="grep"
-if test -L test01; then
-       SYMLINK="ln -s"
-else
-       SYMLINKFROM="${bindir}/grep"
-       rm -f test01
-       ln test00 test01 || :
-       if test -e test01; then
-               SYMLINK="ln"
-       else
-               SYMLINK="cp"
-       fi
-fi
-AC_MSG_RESULT($SYMLINK)
-AC_SUBST(SYMLINK)
-AC_SUBST(SYMLINKFROM)
-rm -f test00 test01
-
 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile lib/Makefile lib/posix/Makefile src/Makefile tests/Makefile 
po/Makefile.in intl/Makefile doc/Makefile m4/Makefile vms/Makefile 
bootstrap/Makefile, [sed -e "/POTFILES =/r po/POTFILES" po/Makefile.in > 
po/Makefile; echo timestamp > stamp-h])
===================================================================
RCS file: src/Makefile.am,v
retrieving revision 2.5
retrieving revision 2.5.0.1
diff -pu -r2.5 -r2.5.0.1
--- src/Makefile.am     2002/03/13 15:20:13     2.5
+++ src/Makefile.am     2002/03/15 13:13:05     2.5.0.1
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = ansi2knr no-dependenc
 LN = ln
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = grep
+bin_SCRIPTS = egrep fgrep
 grep_SOURCES = grep.c dfa.c kwset.c search.c \
                grepmat.c
 noinst_HEADERS = grep.h dfa.h kwset.h getpagesize.h system.h
@@ -17,6 +18,12 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
              dosbuf.c \
              vms_fab.c vms_fab.h
 
-install-exec-local:
-       @SYMLINK@ @SYMLINKFROM@ $(bindir)/egrep
-       @SYMLINK@ @SYMLINKFROM@ $(bindir)/fgrep
+egrep:
+       echo '#! /bin/sh' >$@
+       echo 'exec grep -E $${1+"$$@"}' >>$@
+       chmod a+x $@
+
+fgrep:
+       echo '#! /bin/sh' >$@
+       echo 'exec grep -F $${1+"$$@"}' >>$@
+       chmod a+x $@
===================================================================
RCS file: src/grep.c,v
retrieving revision 2.5
retrieving revision 2.5.0.1
diff -pu -r2.5 -r2.5.0.1
--- src/grep.c  2002/03/13 14:49:52     2.5
+++ src/grep.c  2002/03/15 13:22:36     2.5.0.1
@@ -1289,11 +1289,6 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   if (program_name && strrchr (program_name, '/'))
     program_name = strrchr (program_name, '/') + 1;
 
-  if (!strcmp(program_name, "egrep"))
-    setmatcher ("egrep");
-  if (!strcmp(program_name, "fgrep"))
-    setmatcher ("fgrep");
-
 #if defined(__MSDOS__) || defined(_WIN32)
   /* DOS and MS-Windows use backslashes as directory separators, and usually
      have an .exe suffix.  They also have case-insensitive filesystems.  */