When the output file is the same as the input file ...

[Nick Clifton]

Hi John,

> Occasionally I thoughtlessly type:
> 
>  as foo.s -o foo.s
> 
> which dutifully assembles my source file and overwrites it with the object code :(
> 
> Would you accept a patch which produces an error if the input and outfile files
> are the same?

Yes. :-)  (Provided that the input and output are real files, of course).

I have also often wonder why the default output name is a.out, which does
not make a lot of sense to me.  Defaulting to choosing an output name based
upon the input name would make more sense.  (Although this behaviour would
have to be controlled by a configure time option, so that backwards
compatibility can be maintained).  Just mentioning this in case you feel like
solving both problems at the same time... :-)

Cheers
  Nick



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