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* RE: bash /usr/bin/ls invalid argument
@ 2003-10-28 14:08 Jared Ingersoll
  2003-10-28 16:05 ` Christopher Faylor
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Jared Ingersoll @ 2003-10-28 14:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: cygwin

Thanks, I thought it may be something inherent. I can work around this
limitation.

Jared

-----Original Message-----
From: Hannu E K Nevalainen [mailto:garbage_collector@telia.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 5:20 AM
To: cygwin@cygwin.com
Subject: RE: bash /usr/bin/ls invalid argument


> From: Jared Ingersoll
> Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 8:55 PM

> I'm using bash 2.05b-16 on Win2K pro and I'm running into problems listing
> directory contents with a wildcard. This particular directory has
> over 8000
> files in it, most of which (99%) are files that start with
> send.log.*. When
> I issue the following commands, I get the same error:
>
> $ ls send.log.*
> bash: /usr/bin/ls: Invalid argument

 For newbies: to get to grips about how this works "under the hood"; read up
on how "Shell expansion" works in e.g. bash (i.e. search and read the "man"
or "info" on bash)

 IIRC there was a recent thread (about environment variables and passing
arguments to a windows-console program):

There is a 32KB length limit on the command line. This is imposed on us by
the underlying "OS" - i.e. not likely to change.


To check how long your command line would be, try something like this:

$ find -type f -name 'send.log.*' |
(
  read f;
  cc=-1;
  echo "";
  while [ ! -z "$f" ];do
    cc=$(( 1 + $cc + $( echo "$f" | wc -c) ));
    echo -e "\e[F$cc\e[K";read f;
  done;
  echo -e "\e[F$cc chars"
)

Remember to add the length of e.g. "ls -l " (note space).

If this gives a number larger than...

$ echo $(( ( 1 << 15 ) -1 ))
32767

... then you're "outta luck".

/Hannu E K Nevalainen, B.Sc. EE - 59?16.37'N, 17?12.60'E
-- printf("Timezone: %s\n", (DST)?"UTC+02":"UTC+01"); --
--END OF MESSAGE--


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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* bash /usr/bin/ls invalid argument
@ 2003-10-28  0:12 Jared Ingersoll
  2003-10-28  1:13 ` Andrew DeFaria
  2003-10-28 12:57 ` Hannu E K Nevalainen
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Jared Ingersoll @ 2003-10-28  0:12 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 'cygwin@cygwin.com'

Hi,

I'm using bash 2.05b-16 on Win2K pro and I'm running into problems listing
directory contents with a wildcard. This particular directory has over 8000
files in it, most of which (99%) are files that start with send.log.*. When
I issue the following commands, I get the same error:

$ ls send.log.*
bash: /usr/bin/ls: Invalid argument

$ ls send.log.2003*
bash: /usr/bin/ls: Invalid argument

$ ls send.log.200307*
bash: /usr/bin/ls: Invalid argument

However, if i issuse the same command in the same directory for a different
filename (amount to less that 1% of the files) it works:

$ ls receive.log.2003*
receive.log.20030703  receive.log.20030806  receive.log.20030903
receive.log.20031001
receive.log.20030707  receive.log.20030807  receive.log.20030904
receive.log.20031002
receive.log.20030708  receive.log.20030808  receive.log.20030905
receive.log.20031003
receive.log.20030712  receive.log.20030809  receive.log.20030906
receive.log.20031004

Any ideas what might be going on? Obviously, for scripting purposes I need
to be able to list the directory contents with a wildcard (actually want to
use this with grep). 

$ grep IDxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx send*
bash: /usr/bin/grep: Invalid argument


I tried this with the bourne shell and it seems to do the same thing.

Jared


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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2003-10-29 14:26 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 7+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2003-10-28 14:08 bash /usr/bin/ls invalid argument Jared Ingersoll
2003-10-28 16:05 ` Christopher Faylor
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2003-10-28  0:12 Jared Ingersoll
2003-10-28  1:13 ` Andrew DeFaria
2003-10-28 12:57 ` Hannu E K Nevalainen
2003-10-29 10:17   ` Nicolas BUONOMO
2003-10-29 15:23     ` Hannu E K Nevalainen

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