Backslashes in paths to open command (ctrl+o) are ignored

Description of the problem or steps to reproduce

After version 1.3.2 the open command (ctrl+o) seems to strip \ characters.
All releases after 1.3.2 have this problem, even the nightly.

Specifications

Version: micro-1.3.3-64-bit ++
OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Terminal: ConEmu

[supbish]

Backslashes are treated as escape characters, except for in single-quoted strings. Does doubling the backslashes up or single-quoting the path fix it for you?

I just tried in 1.4.1 and the problem persists. Doubling backslashes only work inside single quoted strings, and are ignored in all other cases.

examples:
open \dump\types.txt -> dumptypes.txt
open "\dump\types.txt" -> dumptypes.txt
open "\\dump\\types.txt" -> dumptypes.txt
open '\dump\types.txt' -> dumptypes.txt
open '\\dump\\types.txt' -> \dump\types.txt <-- correct, but not expected.

Il just have to get used to using forward slashes, less typing ;)

[supbish]

Interesting, haven't looked at open command yet but it sounds like backslash escapes are being processed twice, once before command runs and once in open command.

I'm guessing this will also work: open \\\\dump\\\\types.txt

If so, sounds like a bug with open command.

[supbish]

So, currently Open in command.go looks like this:

// Open opens a new buffer with a given filename
func Open(args []string) {
	if len(args) > 0 {
		filename := args[0]
		// the filename might or might not be quoted, so unquote first then join the strings.
		args, err := shellwords.Split(filename)
		if err != nil {
			messenger.Error("Error parsing args ", err)
			return
		}
		filename = strings.Join(args, " ")

		CurView().Open(filename)
	} else {
		messenger.Error("No filename")
	}
}

The shellwords.Split is what strips the backslashes. Seems to me you could just change it to this:

// Open opens a new buffer with a given filename
func Open(args []string) {
	if len(args) > 0 {
		CurView().Open(args[0])
	} else {
		messenger.Error("No filename")
	}
}

...but it has apparently been like this for a long time, and that comment might be there for a good reason that I don't understand. Maybe you could try this change out in your local copy and see how it goes (esp. try loading some files with spaces in the names)?

[Kein]

Same issue.

The code above could if some #ifdefs for the platform specific code. According to docs:

This module manipulates strings according to the word parsing rules of the UNIX Bourne shell.

Not relevant for Windows.

[niten94]

I've created #3946 which fixes this issue.

This module manipulates strings according to the word parsing rules of the UNIX Bourne shell.

Not relevant for Windows.

Micro still uses shellquote, but backslash isn't interpreted anymore as an escape character on Windows starting with v2.0.15-rc1. This change was done by #3596.