rsync - Dec 2012 - --list-only ordering

Hello rsync people

I've noticed an apparent inconsistency in the ordering of output from 
the --list-only option.

For example:
   $ ls
   d1  d2  d2-x  d3  f1  f2  f2-x  f3
   $ rsync --list-only .
   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:18:05 .
   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f1
   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f2
   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f2-x
   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f3
   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d1
   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d2-x
   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d2
   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d3

Note that the files are listed in a 'sensible' order, with f2-x coming 
after f2.  But for the directories, d2-x comes before d2.

Is this a bug or a feature?  (I'm running rsync 3.0.9 on 64-bit Arch Linux.)

And more importantly, can I rely on the output staying the same in the 
future?

cheers

Chris
-- 
Chris Dennis                                  cgdennis at btinternet.com
Fordingbridge, Hampshire, UK

On Mon 17 Dec 2012, Chris Dennis wrote:
> 
> I've noticed an apparent inconsistency in the ordering of output
> from the --list-only option.
> 
> For example:
>   $ ls
>   d1  d2  d2-x  d3  f1  f2  f2-x  f3
>   $ rsync --list-only .
>   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:18:05 .
>   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f1
>   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f2
>   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f2-x
>   -rw-r--r--           0 2012/12/17 15:17:52 f3
>   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d1
>   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d2-x
>   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d2
>   drwxr-xr-x        4096 2012/12/17 15:17:40 d3
> 
> Note that the files are listed in a 'sensible' order, with f2-x
> coming after f2.  But for the directories, d2-x comes before d2.
I wouldn't be surprised if rsync appends a slash to the directory names
internally; '-' sorts before '/' in ASCII.


Paul