Re: [Gnuplot-py-users] Patch for mishandled filenames

[Michael H. <mh...@al...>]

Noel O'Boyle wrote:
> Problem:
> 
> On Windows, if your user name contains an apostrophe, the use of
> temporary files causes an error, as gnuplot uses apropostrophes (i.e.
> single quotes) to delimit the filename.
> 
> gnuplot> plot 'c:\docume~1\noelo'~1\locals~1\temp\tmpcxnwsm' notitle
>                                    ^
>          invalid character
> 
> 
> Solution:
> 
> If you replace the single quotes with double quotes, gnuplot is happy
> with the apostrophe but misinterprets the backslashes as escape
> character sequences.
> 
> gnuplot> plot "c:\docume~1\noelo'~1\locals~1\temp\tmpcxnwsm" notitle
>               ^
>          can't read data file "c:docume~1
> oelo'~1locals~1 emp     mpcxnwsm"
> 
> ....so you need to also replace all of the backslashes with forward
> slashes.
> 
> gnuplot> plot "c:/docume~1/noelo'~1/locals~1/temp/tmpcxnwsm"
> notitle            
> 
> **Success!!**

Hello,

Thanks for the information and the patch.

Won't your patch create new problems for filenames that contain
double-quotes?  Or is that somehow forbidden?

What if a filename contains single-quotes *and* double-quotes?

In other words, is there a way to solve this problem in such a way that
it works for *all* legitimate Windows filenames?

Regarding your specific proposed patch:

1. I think the conversion of filenames should happen via a call to the
os-specific code.

2. string.replace() would be easier than an explicit loop.

Michael