Filename and pathname should be prefixed to avoid missing filenames starting with a dash when globbing files as program option.

Why is this an issue?

Within the command, arguments and filenames as options are passed as strings. Programs may misinterpret files as arguments if the file name starts with a single or double dash. When filenames are specified using glob, files whose names begin with a dash are not included in the scope. For example, if a file is named "-f" and passed as an argument to a command such as "rm", it may be interpreted as a command line option instead of a file, causing unexpected behaviour. This issue affects all instructions processing shell commands.

How to fix it

Code examples

Noncompliant code example

#!/bin/bash

rm *

Compliant solution

#!/bin/bash

rm ./*
rm -- *

Resources

• Filenames and Pathnames in Shell: How to do it Correctly