Filename Syntax

There are two ways you can give a file name:

• unadorned (without double-quotes) with possible escapes

• a double-quoted string with possible escapes in the string

Probably most of the time a file name will be specified in the first form, without using quotes. If the file name however has a space or a colon in it, escape that character with a backslash. Also, if you need to enter a backslash and the character following that is unlucky enough to be a colon, space, or backslash use two backslashes. Some examples:

gcd.pl       => gcd.pl
/tmp/gcd.pl  =>  /tmp/gcd.pl
C\:gcd.pl    =>  C:gcd.pl
C\:\gcd.pl   =>  C:\gcd.pl
C\:\\gcd.pl  =>  C:\gcd.pl  # Note: double slash not needed
\\new.pl     =>  \new.pl     # Note: double slash, or filename has newline
my\ file.pl  =>  my file.pl

The quoted string is useful if you have a file name that contains several characters that normally confuse the debugger parser, notably a space, newline, or a colon. The quoted string starts with a double quote ("). Escape sequences are allowed inside the string to be able to enter tabs or newlines, or a double quote inside the string. The list of translations is as follows:

\t => <tab>
\n => <newline>
\" => "
\\ => \

Here are some examples of quoted filenames:

"This is a file with blanks.pm" => This is a file with blanks.pm
"/tmp/PerlProgram\"foo\".pm    => /tmp/PerlProgram"foo".pm
"/Perl\nProgram.pl"             => /tmp/Perl
                                   Program.pl