bug#21325: ls : feature request --width=zero

[Pádraig Brady]

On 23/08/15 03:08, Beco wrote:
> 
> 
> On 22 August 2015 at 22:37, Paul Eggert <address@hidden 
> <mailto:address@hidden>> wrote:
> 
>     That's annoying.  Thanks for the bug report.  I'm a bit dubious about 
> equating zero to infinity, though, so I installed the attached patch instead. 
>  It will let you use whatever large number you like.  E.g.:
> 
>       ls -w999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
> 
>     will do the right thing.  For now, you can work around the problem with:
> 
>       ls -w4294967295
> 
>     which should work on unpatched GNU ‘ls’.
> 
> 
> Hello, Paul,
> 
> Thanks for the quick answer.
> 
> Regarding the zero being infinity, well, it doesn't need to be zero.
> 
> But a shortcut would be nice. For example, instead of:
> 
> ls -w999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
> 
> it could be ls -wMAX
> 
> I thought about zero because: 
> 
> 1- its a number, easier to implement (than parsing a word like MAX)
> 2- its not being used (gives an error if you try) (*)
> 
> Its just that a script with so many 99..99 numbers would be hard to read, 
> nothing more.
> 
> Ty,
> Beco
> 
> --
> (*) Debian Jessie:
> $ ls -m -w0
> ls: invalid line width: 0
> $ ls -m -w18446744073709551616
> ls: invalid line width: 18446744073709551616
> $ ls -m -w18446744073709551615
> (runs ok, no error)

I agree.

I don't think -w0 would be useful for anything else.
I.E. considering 0 as no width limit is quite natural.
Also base64 -w0 has similar meaning.

cheers,
Pádraig.