set -- $fx

[avidseeker]

I have set ifs "\n" in lfrc and I launch the shell as $zsh -o shwordsplit

Running set -- $fx works as expected for file names with no spaces. However, if I have a filename that contains spaces:

$ ls
one two
orig
$ set -- $fx
$ echo "$1"
/home/user/one
$ echo "$2"
two
$ echo "$3"
/home/user/orig

which doesn't make sense for me because IFS is set as new line:

$ printf "%s" "$IFS" | od -c
0000000      \t  \n  \0
0000004

so $fx should be expanded as "/home/user/one two" and "/home/user/orig" instead of how it currently is.

Relevant issues:

• zle: not enough argument for -C zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions#825

[joelim-work]

You have two different shells involved:

• $ - Non-interactive shell which is whatever you have set shell to in your config file
• zsh - Interactive shell that is running inside the $ shell above

The set ifs "\n" only applies to the first one, and since IFS is a shell variable and not an environment variable, it isn't passed down to the child zsh shell process. For instance, if you run !printf "%s" "$IFS" | od -c directly inside lf, then the value of set ifs "\n" will apply.

Actually I'm not sure why you're starting another shell in the first place, I can only assume it is for debugging purposes.

[avidseeker]

not sure why you're starting another shell

I want to have lf temporarily consumed by an interactive shell. Yes, I can issue short commands directly using `:$` but for more complex ones that needs a full shell, I launch a new one. I'm basically using lf as a file selector for my script `"$@"` arguments. After selecting files I run `./some_`

IFS isn't passed down to the child `zsh` shell process

I see. That's the root of the problem then. How can I issue these commands on startup? ``` IFS=$"\n" set -- "${@#"${PWD}/"}" ```

[joelim-work]

You trying to start an interactive shell, where it is generally expected that a user will manually type out all commands. But then at the same time you're also trying to automate some commands in the style of a non-interactive shell.

Maybe you can try adding the commands to your .zshrc file, but it does sound like an uncommon use case:

if [[ "$LF_LEVEL" -gt 0 ]] then
    IFS=$'\n'
fi

[avidseeker]

I was looking at the lf wiki and I noticed a couple of related entries to my issue. 1. Putting lf into bg:

map <c-z> $kill -STOP "$PPID"

for some reason, I don't get any shell and the terminal gets stuck. I can't issue a `fg` command to restore lf. 2. I see that some scripts already use `set -- $(cat ~/.local/share/lf/files)` which is basically what I need. The difference is that the scripts I'm using are one time command runs that are not worth adding to lfrc just to run them.

[avidseeker]

On Sat Apr 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM PDT, Joe Lim wrote: In an interactive shell, you're generally expected to manually type out all commands.

True, but lf makes it easier to view and select files with really long, chaotic and funky names. I can choose them with tab completion from the shell, but lf makes the selection process much faster. Again, I'm just using lf as a selector for vargs (i.e `$@`)

Maybe you can try adding the commands to your `.zshrc` file

Really interesting.. The IFS part works as expected ``` if [ -n "$LF_LEVEL" ]; then IFS=$'\n' set -- $fx fi ``` and I get ``` $ printf "%s" "$IFS" | od -c 0000000 \n ``` However, the `set -- $fx` part doesn't work for some reason. It combines all of $fx in $1 as one string. Which doesn't make sense for me. What's stranger is that issuing a command in the shell `set -- $fx` fixes the issues. I wonder why that's the case. It should be the same since it's sourced by ~/.zshrc. I tried again using bash and bash works as expected. $fx is loaded into $@ properly. Could be some weird shell stuff is going on with zsh. Really curious why that is the case. Thank you for your help

[avidseeker]

P.S: any ideas for why the fg, bg trick not working for me?

…

1. Putting lf into bg: > map <c-z> $kill -STOP "$PPID" for some reason, I don't get any shell and the terminal gets stuck. I can't issue a `fg` command to restore lf.

[avidseeker]

Note that changing IFS value causes some of bash and zsh extensions to complain:

bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: bashdefault -o nospace -o dirnames: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o nospace -v: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name bash: complete: default -o bashdefault: invalid option name

and zsh:

exit diB daB -- Empty a function {} (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range (eval):zle:1: not enough arguments for -C _main_complete:compset:94: can only be called from completion function _setup:37: compstate: assignment to invalid subscript range

I made sure to make the IFS conditional to load after all plugins are loaded in bashrc and zshrc. But it seems that completion functions would still complain. I'm trying to replicate these messages in a way independent or outside of lf to file a bug to those components. I'm not sure if it's because lf does some things in the background or not.