Inactive or unsupported "-E" option on echo

Patrick Samson p_samson@yahoo.com
Wed Jun 23 21:23:00 GMT 2004


I got confused by the options supported in echo:

$ /bin/echo --help
Usage: /bin/echo [OPTION]... [STRING]...
Echo the STRING(s) to standard output.

  -n              do not output the trailing newline
  -e              enable interpretation of the
backslash-escaped characters
                    listed below
  -E              disable interpretation of those
sequences in STRINGs
  ^^^
$ /bin/echo -E toto
-E toto

However, with the bash built-in version:
$ echo -E toto
toto

In both versions, default is to not interpret
the backslash (#define V9_DEFAULT is commented out
in sh-utils/src/echo.c).
But the -E option is valid (recognized) in the
built-in version, not in the exe version.

There is likely nothing to do, on the cygwin side.
It's only a pity that the usage message does not
vary in accordance with the #define as the supported
options and behaviour do.



	
		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail 

--
Unsubscribe info:      http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
Problem reports:       http://cygwin.com/problems.html
Documentation:         http://cygwin.com/docs.html
FAQ:                   http://cygwin.com/faq/



More information about the Cygwin mailing list