Groups > muc.lists.netbsd.tech.userlevel > #11711

Re: set -e again

From	Robert Elz <kre@munnari.OZ.AU>
Newsgroups	muc.lists.netbsd.tech.userlevel
Subject	Re: set -e again
Date	2026-01-14 21:09 +0700
Organization	Newsgate at muc.de e.V.
Message-ID	<17878.1768399781@jacaranda.noi.kre.to> (permalink)
References	<aWbu963HcQMeCm2M@netbsd.org>

Show all headers | View raw

    Date:        Wed, 14 Jan 2026 01:18:47 +0000
    From:        David Holland <dholland-tech@netbsd.org>
    Message-ID:  <aWbu963HcQMeCm2M@netbsd.org>

  | I discovered the following today.

I would have expected you to be aware of all this already.

  | This seems wrong - the exit status of the f is guarded, but the false
  | is not.

Doesn't matter, it is executing in a place to the left of a || hence
the setting of -e is ignored.

  | Is this intended, and is there a way to get the user's intended
  | behavior of exit on unchecked failure back?

It is, and no, there isn't.   Use of -e in anything other than a list of
simple commands, one after the other, almost always runs into problems.
It was originally intended for (old style) makefile use, not for lazy
script writers.

Simply explicitly test every command's status which matters, explicitly,
and everything will work as you intend.   Don't use -e, almost ever.
(And -u isn't a lot better, but at least that one is more predictable).

kre

--
Posted automagically by a mail2news gateway at muc.de e.V.
Please direct questions, flames, donations, etc. to news-admin@muc.de

Back to muc.lists.netbsd.tech.userlevel | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

set -e again David Holland <dholland-tech@netbsd.org> - 2026-01-14 01:18 +0000
  Re: set -e again "Greg A. Woods" <woods@planix.ca> - 2026-01-13 18:14 -0800
  Re: set -e again Mouse <mouse@Rodents-Montreal.ORG> - 2026-01-13 21:30 -0500
  Re: set -e again Crystal Kolipe <kolipe.c@exoticsilicon.com> - 2026-01-14 10:28 +0000
    Re: set -e again Mouse <mouse@Rodents-Montreal.ORG> - 2026-01-14 07:41 -0500
      Re: set -e again Crystal Kolipe <kolipe.c@exoticsilicon.com> - 2026-01-14 13:46 +0000
    Re: set -e again Robert Elz <kre@munnari.OZ.AU> - 2026-01-14 21:22 +0700
  Re: set -e again RVP <rvp@SDF.ORG> - 2026-01-14 13:39 +0000
  Re: set -e again Robert Elz <kre@munnari.OZ.AU> - 2026-01-14 21:09 +0700

csiph-web