(hopeful) fix for #2

realpath

@@ -63,51 +63,65 @@ function realpath()
 	if [ -z "$path" ]; then
 		success=false
 	else
-		# start with the file name (sans the trailing slash)
-		path="${path%/}"
+        while $success; do
+            # start with the file name (sans the trailing slash)
+            path="${path%/}"
+
+            # if we stripped off the trailing slash and were left with nothing, that means we're in the root directory
+            if [ -z "$path" ]; then
+                path="/"
+            fi
+
+            # get the basename of the file (ignoring '.' & '..', because they're really part of the path)
+            local file_basename="${path##*/}"
+            if [[ ( "$file_basename" = "." ) || ( "$file_basename" = ".." ) ]]; then
+                file_basename=""
+            fi
+
+            # extracts the directory component of the full path, if it's empty then assume '.' (the current working directory)
+            local directory="${path%$file_basename}"
+            if [ -z "$directory" ]; then
+                directory='.'
+            fi
+
+            # attempt to change to the directory
+            if ! cd "$directory" &>/dev/null ; then
+                success=false
+            fi
+
+            if $success; then
+                # does the filename exist?
+                if [[ ( -n "$file_basename" ) && ( ! -e "$file_basename" ) ]]; then
+                    success=false
+                fi
+
+                # get the absolute path of the current directory & change back to previous directory
+                local abs_path="$(pwd -P)"
+                cd "-" &>/dev/null
 
-		# if we stripped off the trailing slash and were left with nothing, that means we're in the root directory
-		if [ -z "$path" ]; then
-			path="/"
-		fi
-
-		# get the basename of the file (ignoring '.' & '..', because they're really part of the path)
-		local file_basename="${path##*/}"
-		if [[ ( "$file_basename" = "." ) || ( "$file_basename" = ".." ) ]]; then
-			file_basename=""
-		fi
-
-		# extracts the directory component of the full path, if it's empty then assume '.' (the current working directory)
-		local directory="${path%$file_basename}"
-		if [ -z "$directory" ]; then
-			directory='.'
-		fi
-
-		# attempt to change to the directory
-		if ! cd "$directory" &>/dev/null ; then
-			success=false
-		fi
-
-		if $success; then
-			# does the filename exist?
-			if [[ ( -n "$file_basename" ) && ( ! -e "$file_basename" ) ]]; then
-				success=false
-			fi
-
-			# get the absolute path of the current directory & change back to previous directory
-			local abs_path="$(pwd -P)"
-			cd "-" &>/dev/null
-
-			# Append base filename to absolute path
-			if [ "${abs_path}" = "/" ]; then
-				abs_path="${abs_path}${file_basename}"
-			else
-				abs_path="${abs_path}/${file_basename}"
-			fi
-
-			# output the absolute path
-			echo "$abs_path"
-		fi
+		local abs_path_bak="$abs_path"
+
+                # Append base filename to absolute path
+                if [ "${abs_path}" = "/" ]; then
+                    abs_path="${abs_path}${file_basename}"
+                else
+                    abs_path="${abs_path}/${file_basename}"
+                fi
+
+                # If is a symlink, follow the symlink and try again with the newly discovered path
+                if [ -L "$abs_path" ]; then
+                    path="$( readlink "$abs_path" )"
+                    if [[ "$path:0:1" != '/' ]]; then
+                        path="$abs_path_bak/$path"
+                    fi
+                    continue
+                fi
+
+                # output the absolute path
+                echo "$abs_path"
+		break
+            fi
+        done
 	fi
 
 	$success

realpath-test.sh

@@ -83,4 +83,19 @@ it_fails_for_relative_home_paths() {
 	out=$(set +e ; ./realpath "$rel_path" >/dev/null ; echo $?)
 
 	test $out -gt 0
-}
+}
+
+it_follows_symlink() {
+	cmd="$(pwd)/realpath"
+	dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+	cd "$dir"
+	mkdir -p tmp
+	ln -s .. ./tmp/symlink
+	cwd="$(pwd)"
+
+	rel_path="tmp/symlink"
+	abs_path="${cwd}"
+	out_path="$("$cmd" "$rel_path")"
+
+	test "$out_path" = "$abs_path"
+}