Re: Git grep command not interpreting flags correctly when an argument

[Matthew Martin <phy1729@gmail.com>]

On Sun, May 19, 2019 at 07:09:22PM +0100, Sam Houston wrote:
> In a `bash` shell, in some empty directory, I can run the commands:
> 
> ```bash
> git init
> echo "pattern" > file.txt
> FLAGS="--untracked --color"
> git grep $FLAGS pattern
> ```
> 
> And see the output:
> 
> ```
> file.txt:pattern
> ```
> 
> But in a `zsh` shell, when I run the same commands, I get the following
> error:
> 
> ```
> error: unknown option `untracked --color'
> ```

The better way (both in zsh and in bash) would be to use an array.

flags=(--untracked --color)
git grep "${flags[@]}" pattern
# git grep $flags pattern   would also work, but just in zsh

Relying on word splitting means that arguments that contain spaces or
other IFS characters are mangled into two or more arguments.