Arguments in quotes not handled correctly

[agirorn]

The command execa.command does not handle arguments in quotes correctly. It splits all strings by space and ignores arguments in quotes.

What happend
To test this I have this script

#!/usr/bin/env node
console.log(process.argv);

That I run like this and it splits argument 2 ('arg 2') into 2 arguments.

> command("./test.js arg1 'arg 2'").then(console.log)
Promise { <pending> }
> {
  command: "./test.js arg1 'arg 2'",
  exitCode: 0,
  exitCodeName: 'SUCCESS',
  stdout: '[\n' +
    "  '/home/agirorn/.nvm/versions/node/v12.7.0/bin/node',\n" +
    "  '/home/agirorn/code/pontus/docs/test.js',\n" +
    "  'arg1',\n" +
    `  "'arg",\n` +
    `  "2'"\n` +
    ']',
  stderr: '',
  all: '[\n' +
    "  '/home/agirorn/.nvm/versions/node/v12.7.0/bin/node',\n" +
    "  '/home/agirorn/code/pontus/docs/test.js',\n" +
    "  'arg1',\n" +
    `  "'arg",\n` +
    `  "2'"\n` +
    ']',
  failed: false,
  timedOut: false,
  isCanceled: false,
  killed: false
}

What I expected
I expected argument 2 ('arg 2') not to be split into 2 arguments.

> command("./test.js arg1 'arg 2'").then(console.log)
Promise { <pending> }
> {
  command: "./test.js arg1 'arg 2'",
  exitCode: 0,
  exitCodeName: 'SUCCESS',
  stdout: '[\n' +
    "  '/home/agirorn/.nvm/versions/node/v12.7.0/bin/node',\n" +
    "  '/home/agirorn/code/pontus/docs/test.js',\n" +
    "  'arg1',\n" +
    `  "'arg 2'"\n` +
    ']',
  stderr: '',
  all: '[\n' +
    "  '/home/agirorn/.nvm/versions/node/v12.7.0/bin/node',\n" +
    "  '/home/agirorn/code/pontus/docs/test.js',\n" +
    "  'arg1',\n" +
    `  "'arg 2'"\n` +
    ']',
  failed: false,
  timedOut: false,
  isCanceled: false,
  killed: false
}

Maybe something similar to shell-parsercould be used instead of the "SPACES_REGEXP" string split

[ehmicky]

Quoting is shell-specific. shell-parser is for Unix only, Windows cmd.exe quoting is very different. We don't want to promote non-cross-platform code.

Instead you have three options:

1. Escape the significant spaces with backslashes: execa.command('./test.js arg1 arg\\ 2')
2. use execa() instead of execa.command(): execa('./test.js', ['arg1', 'arg 2'])
3. use the shell option in order to let your current shell handle it. That option has many drawbacks so I would not recommend it though.

[agirorn]

Thanks for the fast response to this issue.

[retueZe]

We don't want to promote non-cross-platform code.

1. Escape the significant spaces with backslashes: execa.command('./test.js arg1 arg\ 2')

You contradict yourself. execa.command('./test.js arg1 arg\\ 2') does not work in cmd.exe. The passed command to the terminal is going to be ./test.js arg1 arg\ 2. First off, not every Windows NodeJS user makes *.js files executable in the *nix-like way. Better to use node ./test.js arg1 arg\ 2. Okay, but this code is not cross-platform either. Let's create a 'test.js' file with the following code:

console.log(process.argv.slice(2))

Then execute the node ./test.js arg1 arg\ 2 command. The output is going to be:

[ 'arg1', 'arg\\', '2' ]

Yes, it does work in BASH, but not in Batch. The only case where is not desirable to use the 2nd way is when you use $, and especially $$, where the 1st option is the only one available, and it just doesn't work at all default shells.

What did you mean by that:

Quoting is shell-specific.

BASH has double-quotes, Batch has double-quotes, PowerShell has double-quotes. The only difference is escaping and variable substitution. The first one is solved by JS' escaping. The second one solved by either using interpolated strings ($, for example), or passing arguments by array. But as i said, you get completely stuck by using the $ (the most laconic and pretty option so far).

So, is double-quoting really some kind of "non-cross-platform code"? Why can't this feature just be implemented? I really see no way to make some bad code out of double-quoting.