bug#2693: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123

bug#2693: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123

[xah lee]

From: Xah Lee <xah@xahlee.org>
To: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
Subject: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123
--text follows this line--

this is possibly a bug.

Summary: when using M-x grep-find, on a search word with camelCase, i  
get this error:
“Grep exited abnormally with code 123 at Mon Mar 16 17:22:46”.

Reproduce steps:

• start emacs 22.x with -q
• M-x grep-find
• Try to search a word with camelCase. e.g. “find . -name "*txt" - 
print0 | xargs -0 -e grep -nH -e pestiLence”
• Emacs gives the error mentioned above.

This is reproducible in:

• GNU Emacs 22.2.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, Carbon Version  
1.6.0) of 2008-04-05 on g5.tokyo.stp.isas.jaxa.jp
• GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, GTK+ Version  
2.6.10) of 2009-03-01 on xahg5.local

This problem happens also when called with shell-command. e.g. M-x  
shell-command, then use
“find . -name "*txt" -print0 | xargs -0 -e grep -nH -e pestiLence”.

However, this does not happen when called in shell, e.g. M-x shell.  
Nor when i simply run it in a Terminal running bash. (so, prob not  
having to do with the unix's “find”, “grep”, “xargs”  
programs on my computer.)

   Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄

bug#2693: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123

[Sven Joachim]

On 2009-03-17 01:41 +0100, xah lee wrote:

> Summary: when using M-x grep-find, on a search word with camelCase, i
> get this error:
> “Grep exited abnormally with code 123 at Mon Mar 16 17:22:46”.
>
> Reproduce steps:
>
> • start emacs 22.x with -q
> • M-x grep-find
> • Try to search a word with camelCase. e.g. “find . -name "*txt" -
> print0 | xargs -0 -e grep -nH -e pestiLence”
> • Emacs gives the error mentioned above.
>
> This is reproducible in:
>
> • GNU Emacs 22.2.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, Carbon Version 1.6.0)
> of 2008-04-05 on g5.tokyo.stp.isas.jaxa.jp
> • GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, GTK+ Version
> 2.6.10) of 2009-03-01 on xahg5.local
>
> This problem happens also when called with shell-command. e.g. M-x 
> shell-command, then use
> “find . -name "*txt" -print0 | xargs -0 -e grep -nH -e pestiLence”.

This is not surprising, since 123 is xargs' exit code if any of the
command invocations failed, see the "EXIT STATUS" section in xargs(1).

> However, this does not happen when called in shell, e.g. M-x
> shell. Nor when i simply run it in a Terminal running bash. (so, prob
> not  having to do with the unix's “find”, “grep”, “xargs”  programs on
> my computer.)

Your shell may not report failure, but unless one of your files contains
pestiLence, the above command will still finish with an exit code of
123.  Type "echo $?" to convince yourself.

Maybe it would be possible to special-case an exit code of 123 in
grep-find, but the problem is that this exit code does not tell if there
were matches or not.

Sven

bug#2693: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123

[Jason Rumney]

xah lee wrote:
> • GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, GTK+ Version 
> 2.6.10) of 2009-03-01 on xahg5.local

Where did this come from? The version number suggests a CVS checkout, 
but CVS hasn't been at 22.0.50 since 2006.

bug#2693: grep-find with camelCase returns error of 123

[xah lee]

On Mar 17, 2009, at 5:24 AM, Jason Rumney wrote:
>
> xah lee wrote:
>> • GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0, GTK+ Version  
>> 2.6.10) of 2009-03-01 on xahg5.local
>
> Where did this come from? The version number suggests a CVS  
> checkout, but CVS hasn't been at 22.0.50 since 2006.

Not sure exactly, but i got it from fink.
http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/emacs22-carbon

I haven't read in detail the other reply yet... will reply soon if i  
have good info.

   Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄