shell-unquote-argument: throws error if called outside a shell buffer

shell-unquote-argument: throws error if called outside a shell buffer

[raman]

Function shell-unquote-argument throws  an  error when called from
lisp if the buffer at the time of the call is not a shell buffer --
bug or feature? The doc string does not imply that the function needs
to be called in a shell buffer.
-- 

-- 

Re: shell-unquote-argument: throws error if called outside a shell buffer

[Andreas Politz]

I assume this is a problem of name-spaces.  While `shell-quote-argument'
lives in subr.el, where the prefix denotes "functionality related to
shells", its would-be companion function `shell-unquote-argument' is
defined in shell.el and is not supposed to be used outside that
libraries scope (i.e. a *shell* buffer), as is e.g. shell-resync-dirs.

-ap

Re: shell-unquote-argument: throws error if called outside a shell buffer

[raman]

Andreas Politz <politza@hochschule-trier.de> writes:
Yes, namespacing -- plus incomplete documentation.
shell-unquote-argument is a compiled Lisp function in `shell.el'.

(shell-unquote-argument STRING)

Remove all kinds of shell quoting from STRING.

[back]

> I assume this is a problem of name-spaces.  While `shell-quote-argument'
> lives in subr.el, where the prefix denotes "functionality related to
> shells", its would-be companion function `shell-unquote-argument' is
> defined in shell.el and is not supposed to be used outside that
> libraries scope (i.e. a *shell* buffer), as is e.g. shell-resync-dirs.
>
> -ap

-- 

Re: shell-unquote-argument: throws error if called outside a shell buffer

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: raman <raman@google.com>
> Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2017 18:48:12 -0800
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org
> 
> Andreas Politz <politza@hochschule-trier.de> writes:
> Yes, namespacing -- plus incomplete documentation.
> shell-unquote-argument is a compiled Lisp function in `shell.el'.
> 
> (shell-unquote-argument STRING)
> 
> Remove all kinds of shell quoting from STRING.

I think this is simply a bug: the only reason that function wants a
shell buffer is to access the name of the shell process running in
it.  It could instead fall back on some system-dependent default, and
perhaps also provide a way for Lisp callers to specify the shell.

Patches to that effect are welcome.  (I'm also in favor of moving this
function to subr.el, while at that.)

TIA