Function bash_program

pub fn bash_program() -> &'static Path

Get the path attempted as a bash interpreter, for fixture scripts having no #! we can use.

This is rarely called on Unix-like systems, provided that fixture scripts have usable shebang (#!) lines and are marked executable. However, Windows does not recognize #! when executing a file. If all fixture scripts that cannot be directly executed are bash scripts or can be treated as such, fixture generation still works on Windows, as long as this function manages to find or guess a suitable bash interpreter.

Search order

This function is used internally. It is public to facilitate diagnostic use. The following details are subject to change without warning, and changes are treated as non-breaking.

The bash.exe found in a path search is not always suitable on Windows. This is mainly because bash.exe in System32, which is associated with WSL, would often be found first. But even where that is not the case, the best bash.exe to use to run fixture scripts to set up Git repositories for testing is usually one associated with Git for Windows, even if some other bash.exe would be found in a path search. Currently, the search order we use is as follows:

1. The shim bash.exe, which sets environment variables when run and is, on some systems, needed to find the POSIX utilities that scripts need (or correct versions of them).

2. The non-shim bash.exe, which is sometimes available even when the shim is not available. This is mainly because the Git for Windows SDK does not come with a bash.exe shim.

3. As a fallback, the simple name bash.exe, which triggers a path search when run.

On non-Windows systems, the simple name bash is used, which triggers a path search when run.