Re: expand-file-name leaves "/../" in expansions at times

[Chong Yidong]

Diane Murray <address@hidden> writes:

> I have no idea if this is a bug or not, but sometimes
> `expand-file-name' returns a path with "/../" at the beginning of it.
> Below are a few simple examples.

C-h f expand-file-name RET

  expand-file-name is a built-in function in `C source code'.
  (expand-file-name name &optional default-directory)

  Convert filename name to absolute, and canonicalize it.
  Second arg default-directory is directory to start with if name is relative
  (does not start with slash); if default-directory is nil or missing,
  the current buffer's value of `default-directory' is used.

All your examples are consistent with this behavior.  The important
thing is that DEFAULT-DIRECTORY is only consulted if the filename is
relative.

Also, note that (/../ == /).