View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | View Status | Date Submitted | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0000029 | file | General | public | 2018-08-15 19:18 | 2018-12-10 21:16 |
| Reporter | Dave_Anderson | Assigned To | christos | ||
| Priority | high | Severity | major | Reproducibility | always |
| Status | resolved | Resolution | fixed | ||
| Platform | Mac | OS | MacOS | OS Version | 10.13.6 |
| Fixed in Version | 5.36 | ||||
| Summary | 0000029: file command does not default to "don't follow symlinks" as claimed in --help | ||||
| Description | Normally when I point the file command to a symlink I expect file output to indicate that I did so. Instead file tells me what it knows about the file that the the symlink is pointing to. Note that if I provide -h the behavior is as expected. Unfortunately the default acts as though I passed -L: DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file --version file-5.31 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file --help Usage: file [OPTION...] [FILE...] Determine type of FILEs. --help display this help and exit . . . -L, --dereference follow symlinks -h, --no-dereference don't follow symlinks (default) . . . DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file `which python3` /usr/local/bin/python3: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file -L `which python3` /usr/local/bin/python3: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file -h `which python3` /usr/local/bin/python3: symbolic link to ../Cellar/python/3.7.0/bin/python3 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ which python3 /usr/local/bin/python3 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/python3 lrwxr-xr-x 1 DA admin 34 Aug 15 11:38 /usr/local/bin/python3 -> ../Cellar/python/3.7.0/bin/python3 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file /usr/local/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python3: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ | ||||
| Steps To Reproduce | See above. Simply run the following: file <full pathname of symlink> or file <relative pathname of symlink> | ||||
| Tags | No tags attached. | ||||
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Unsure of this project's pri/sev definitions; please correct as needed. |
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Unfortunately I fix vendor-provided versions... MacOS/X: [11:58am] 3248>file -v file-5.31 magic file from /usr/share/file/magic [11:58am] 3249>ln -s /dev/null fol [11:58am] 3250>file fol fol: character special (3/2) [11:58am] 3251>uname -a Darwin vpn1-1.astron.com 17.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 17.7.0: Thu Jun 21 22:53:14 PDT 2018; root:xnu-4570.71.2~1/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64 [11:58am] 3252> NetBSD [11:59am] 222>file -v file-5.30 magic file from /usr/share/misc/magic [11:59am] 223>ln -s /dev/null fol [12:01pm] 224>file fol fol: symbolic link to /dev/null [12:02pm] 236>./file -v file-5.34 magic file from /usr/local/share/misc/magic [12:02pm] 237>./file ~/fol /u/christos/fol: symbolic link to /dev/null [12:02pm] 225>uname -a NetBSD rebar.astron.com 7.99.59 NetBSD 7.99.59 (GENERIC) amd64 |
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Not sure what that means. What does vendor-provided mean? if file was provided by Apple(a vendor?) why would it be unfortunate that you will fix it? |
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The version I supply works as advertised. The version Apple supplies works differently as we've found out. I don't know why Apple changed it. I don't control what Apple distributes (the note about should read I *cannot* fix vendor supplied versions). |
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Thanks. Workaround implemented as follows: DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ cat ~/.bash_profile ... alias file='file -h' ... -L can override as intended: DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file `which python3` /usr/local/bin/python3: symbolic link to ../Cellar/python/3.7.0/bin/python3 DAs-MacBook-Pro:~ DA$ file -L `which python3` /usr/local/bin/python3: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64 |
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Requester has work-around. |
| Date Modified | Username | Field | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-08-15 19:18 | Dave_Anderson | New Issue | |
| 2018-08-15 19:20 | Dave_Anderson | Note Added: 0000059 | |
| 2018-08-20 15:59 | christos | Assigned To | => christos |
| 2018-08-20 15:59 | christos | Status | new => assigned |
| 2018-08-20 16:07 | christos | Status | assigned => feedback |
| 2018-08-20 16:07 | christos | Note Added: 0000067 | |
| 2018-08-20 18:26 | Dave_Anderson | Note Added: 0000068 | |
| 2018-08-20 18:26 | Dave_Anderson | Status | feedback => assigned |
| 2018-08-23 09:45 | christos | Note Added: 0000069 | |
| 2018-08-23 18:25 | Dave_Anderson | Note Added: 0000070 | |
| 2018-12-10 21:16 | christos | Status | assigned => resolved |
| 2018-12-10 21:16 | christos | Resolution | open => fixed |
| 2018-12-10 21:16 | christos | Fixed in Version | => 5.36 |
| 2018-12-10 21:16 | christos | Note Added: 0000112 |
