grep(1) - strange behaviour (most likely a bug) -- `grep -i --colour ""`

[martinko]

hello,

i've found a bug in grep(1). short description follows.
i filed this bug originally with freebsd team but was just advised to 
contact you in the first place.
original report with examples can be found here: 
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=bin/79063

should you need my further assistance pls let me know.

regards,

martin

--

*Environment*

FreeBSD mb-aw1n-bsd 5.3-RELEASE-p5 FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE-p5 #5: Mon Feb 14 
19:45:04 CET 2005     address@hidden:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/MB-AW1N  i386

   

*Description*

     `grep -i --colour ""` runs mad and seems to generate ansi escape codes in a 
(infinite?) loop. it happens only when using empty ("") search string and both parameters 
(-i and --colour) are used.
pls find my orginal description below as posted to freebsd-questions mailing 
list. i also produced a typescript with script(1) which you may find under the 
2nd link/post.

http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2005-March/081083.html
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2005-March/081202.html

   

*How-To-Repeat*

     just run the following:
grep -i --colour ""
as soon as you type the first letter it gets mad and soon you'll have a huge 
typescript file as you can see in the link above.
codes/chars generated (as output on screen) seem to be random but i'm not sure 
about it.
   

**