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> Almost every CLI program I've ever used in Windows has no problem with spaces in filenames, so I don't exactly ... Just to clarify on what we think as proble

> Almost every CLI program I've ever used in Windows has no problem with spaces in filenames, so I don't exactly ... Just to clarify on what we think as problem could differ: C:\Users\hzhou>ls *.txt new 2.txt C:\Users\hzhou>ls new 2.txt ls: new: No such file or directory ls: 2.txt: No such file or directory

com2kid 9y ago
dir works fine for that. :) I actually didn't know that dir supported multiple globs for filenames! I've never had a need for that. Super cool.
- ratboy666 9y ago
  Um... no it doesn't. It takes each space delimited name as a new name. You will need to add "" and quote the names -- but Windows shell only has one level of quoting, (") which means you can't easily type the command you need. Unix shell is a bit better. Unix only appears worse because people do attempt scripting. Directory of C:\Users\fred 12/14/2017 04:44 PM 1,556 new 2.txt 1 File(s) 1,556 bytes 0 Dir(s) 75,989,876,736 bytes free C:\Users\fred>dir new 2.txt Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is BA05-C445 Directory of C:\Users\fred Directory of C:\Users\fred File Not Found C:\Users\fred>
  - com2kid 9y ago
    > Um... no it doesn't. It takes each space delimited name as a new name. You will need to add "" and quote the names -- but Windows shell only has one level of quoting, (") which means you can't easily type the command you need. Unix shell is a bit better. Unix only appears worse because people do attempt scripting. Ah I see, you have a file "new 2.txt", I was a bit confused. Not sure what you mean by only 1 level of quoting being a problem, sorry.
    - grive 9y ago
      > Ah I see, you have a file "new 2.txt", I was a bit confused. This is highly ironical, given this thread. Some people seems to advocate for programs to be better than humans at globbing filenames.
      - jstimpfle 9y ago
        That's a great point. Computers sure have the potential to deal with spaces just fine. But if textual interaction is a requirement, we can only have one of arbitrary filenames and clutter-free syntax.

com2kid 9y ago

dir works fine for that. :) I actually didn't know that dir supported multiple globs for filenames! I've never had a need for that. Super cool.

ratboy666 9y ago
Um... no it doesn't. It takes each space delimited name as a new name. You will need to add "" and quote the names -- but Windows shell only has one level of quoting, (") which means you can't easily type the command you need. Unix shell is a bit better. Unix only appears worse because people do attempt scripting. Directory of C:\Users\fred 12/14/2017 04:44 PM 1,556 new 2.txt 1 File(s) 1,556 bytes 0 Dir(s) 75,989,876,736 bytes free C:\Users\fred>dir new 2.txt Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is BA05-C445 Directory of C:\Users\fred Directory of C:\Users\fred File Not Found C:\Users\fred>
- com2kid 9y ago
  > Um... no it doesn't. It takes each space delimited name as a new name. You will need to add "" and quote the names -- but Windows shell only has one level of quoting, (") which means you can't easily type the command you need. Unix shell is a bit better. Unix only appears worse because people do attempt scripting. Ah I see, you have a file "new 2.txt", I was a bit confused. Not sure what you mean by only 1 level of quoting being a problem, sorry.
  - grive 9y ago
    > Ah I see, you have a file "new 2.txt", I was a bit confused. This is highly ironical, given this thread. Some people seems to advocate for programs to be better than humans at globbing filenames.
    - jstimpfle 9y ago
      That's a great point. Computers sure have the potential to deal with spaces just fine. But if textual interaction is a requirement, we can only have one of arbitrary filenames and clutter-free syntax.