[bug #66365] find -exec treats + as special when it shouldn't

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?66365>

                 Summary: find -exec treats + as special when it shouldn't
                   Group: findutils
               Submitter: geoffclare
               Submitted: Tue 22 Oct 2024 10:43:11 AM UTC
                Category: None
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: None
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
         Originator Name: 
        Originator Email: 
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
                 Release: None
           Fixed Release: None


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Follow-up Comments:


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Date: Tue 22 Oct 2024 10:43:11 AM UTC By: Geoff Clare <geoffclare>
POSIX requires that a "+" supplied to "-exec" is only treated as special when
it follows an argument that is exactly "{}".

So in the command:

find . -prune -exec echo x{} + \;

the "+" is not special and the command should output "x. +", but GNU find
treats it as special:

$ find . -prune -exec echo x{} + \;         
find: In ‘-exec ... {} +’ the ‘{}’ must appear by itself, but you
specified ‘x{}’

Tested with findutils 4.9.0 as included in Debian bookworm.

Here's the relevant text from POSIX.1-2024 (it was the same in .1-2008):

"Only a <plus-sign> that immediately follows an argument containing only the
two characters "{}" shall punctuate the end of the primary expression. Other
uses of the <plus-sign> shall not be treated as special."








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