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fix(tar): complete files for combined short options like -tf with bsdtar - #1734

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fix(tar): complete files for combined short options like -tf with bsdtar#1734
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fudianchn:fix/bsdtar-combined-short-options

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@fudianchn

@fudianchn fudianchn commented Sep 13, 2026 •
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AI disclosure: this change was prepared with AI coding agents, reviewed and revised line by line by me.

What

bsdtar -tf <TAB> and star -tf <TAB> now complete archive files. Combined short options ending in f or b complete their argument like the plain form. Plain -f is unchanged.

Why

bsdtar and star parse combined short options like GNU tar does. The completion dropped the file argument for every combined form.

How

_comp_cmd_tar__posix calls _comp_cmd_tar__cleanup_prev before matching the previous word, mirroring the GNU path.

Root cause

_comp_cmd_tar__posix_prev_handle matches exact -f only. _comp_cmd_tar__cleanup_prev, which turns -tf into -f, ran in the GNU path only.

Testing

  • test_tar.py#test_26 (bsdtar -tf ): fails on main, passes with the fix.
  • test_27 (bsdtar -f ) guards plain -f: passes on both.
  • test_28-test_30: star -tf positive, -cf create-mode combo guard (directories only), -tzf compression-extension guard.
  • All 33 tar tests pass (test_tar 30 + test_bsdtar 2 + test_smbtar 1). shellcheck and shfmt clean.
  • Not covered: bsdtar -t <TAB> and -tv <TAB> still complete nothing. Pre-existing gap in _comp_cmd_tar__try_list_archive, left untouched.

Verification of the original issue

Issue reports no completion for bsdtar -tf . With the fix, the same line completes archives like gtar -tf does.

Fixes #1728

@fudianchn
fix(tar): complete files for combined short options like -tf with bsdtar
c0d00bf 
_comp_cmd_tar__posix did not normalize a bundled short option such as
"-tf" down to its last letter before matching the previous word against
"-f" and "-b", so unlike the GNU path (which calls
_comp_cmd_tar__cleanup_prev) the file argument of combined short options
was never completed for bsdtar and star.  Call _comp_cmd_tar__cleanup_prev
after _comp_cmd_tar__adjust_PREV_from_old_option so "-tf", "-bf",
"-tvf" etc. complete archives/dirs like plain "-f" does.

Signed-off-by: 付典 <fudianchn@gmail.com>
@akinomyoga

akinomyoga commented Sep 22, 2026

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The function modified in this PR is _comp_cmd_tar__posix, which is not specifically for BSD tar. POSIX (SUSv2) tar doesn't support -tf. At the same time, the missing support for BSD tar is not limited to the option argument to -f; there are many BSD options we do not support.

@fudianchn

fudianchn commented Sep 22, 2026

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  1. _comp_cmd_tar__posix is reached from the bsdtar/star registrations and from _comp_cmd_tar, which dispatches bare tar to it when --version does not report GNU. In practice that bare tar is bsdtar (macOS, BSD). bsdtar (libarchive) completion wrongly assumes that combining short options is not supported #1728 reports both entries and expects them to complete archives like gtar -tf .

  2. For a tar that strictly follows SUSv2 and rejects bundled short options, this change would complete files after -tf , a form that tar rejects; harmless, but wider than its syntax. I could not find a clean way to narrow it: enabling the normalization only for the bsdtar/star command names would miss the bare tar dispatch from bsdtar (libarchive) completion wrongly assumes that combining short options is not supported #1728, and the dispatch itself already selects "not GNU" rather than "POSIX".

  3. The BSD option surface (long options, -C, ...) is a larger gap. This PR only restores the argument completion of bundled short options, matching what the GNU path does with _comp_cmd_tar__cleanup_prev. I kept it to that; if the BSD options gap is worth tracking, I can open a separate issue.

I can rework this in a different direction if preferred.

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bsdtar (libarchive) completion wrongly assumes that combining short options is not supported

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@fudianchn @akinomyoga