busybox-w32, branch waitfor

ash: allow wait to handle more than 64 processes

2026-07-16T13:09:16+00:00

WaitForMultipleObjects() can only handle 64 processes (actually, MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS) in a single call. Using the 'wait' shell built-in after a command like: for i in $(seq 1 70); do echo $i; sleep 10 & done resulted in an uninterruptible 'wait'. Handle processes in batches of MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS. The problem was noted by Morgan Bartlett, who also supplied a fix which I claim to have 'improved'. Adds 32-48 bytes. Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

xargs: limit number of processes to 64

2026-07-16T12:58:37+00:00

Upstream limits the number of processes invoked with the '-P 0' option to 100. On Windows the limit was set to MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS, as that's the most WaitForMultipleObjects() can handle. Apply the same limit to user-supplied '-P' values. This avoids the need to loop over blocks of MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS. "64 processes ought to be enough for anyone." Saves 64-80 bytes. Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

win32: code shrink procps_scan()

2026-07-15T15:26:35+00:00

The principal change is to replace four separate arrays (one for pids and three for time values) with a single array of structs. There are some other minor adjustments. Saves 96-144 bytes. (GitHub PR #609) Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

fix: procps_scan: do not confirm a process to be parent if either creation time is unknown.

2026-07-15T14:45:39+00:00

fix: procps_scan: compare process creation times to ensure ppid is real

2026-07-15T14:45:39+00:00

Windows aggressively reuses PIDs of exited processes. When a new irrelevant process gets assigned the former PID of the parent of an orphaned process, `pkill -P`, `pgrep -P`, `ps -o ppid` sees the new process as the parent of the orphaned process, and PPID of the orphan is no longer 1. So in theory, all `pkill -P`, `pgrep -P` calls are potentially dangerous and possible to kill an innocent process which outlives its parent. This issue is already discussed in various Internet communities: - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6593003/how-can-i-reliably-check-whether-one-windows-process-is-the-parent-of-another-in - https://web.archive.org/web/20140701081232/https://www.sapphiresteel.com/Blog/Killing-Trees-the-Windows-way Comparing process creation times seems a feasible mitigation that should almost always work (though not theoretically sound). The executable is added 512 bytes after the patch.

win32: workaround for overflow of 8.3 short name (2)

2026-07-14T07:49:19+00:00

Replace a call to 'FindNextFileA()' in 'get_reparse_tag()'. This has no effect on the standard builds. Builds with the UTF-8 manifest included save 4-8 bytes as this removes the only remaining call to 'FindNextFileA()'. (GitHub issue #506) Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

win32: workaround for overflow of 8.3 short name

2026-07-13T15:02:56+00:00

In certain circumstances 'FindNextFileA()' can fail because the legacy DOS 8.3 short name doesn't fit in the buffer supplied. This can be avoided by using 'FindFirstFileExA()' instead, but with a setting that isn't available on Windows XP. - The problem doesn't arise in the standard 32 and 64 bit builds, so no change is required. - Builds with full Unicode support target platforms which have the required setting. They can use 'FindFirstFileExA()' unconditionally, at the cost of 36-56 bytes. - Builds which include the UTF-8 manifest but which are allowed to run on systems prior to Windows 10 need to check whether they need to call 'FindFirstFileExA()' at runtime. This adds 100 bytes. (GitHub issue #506) Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

xxd: allow '-p -c 0' to cause a single line to be output

2026-07-13T12:06:03+00:00

Since 2022 the 'xxd' which comes with 'vim' has allowed the combination of options '-p -c 0' as a way to request output on a single line. Details: https://github.com/vim/vim/pull/9524 Add this feature to the BusyBox 'xxd' applet. Adds 64 bytes. (GitHub issue #610) Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

Merge branch 'busybox' into merge

2026-07-08T13:32:00+00:00

Signed-off-by: Ron Yorston

join: code shrink by making some variables "global"

2026-07-08T12:38:07+00:00

function old new delta readfields 442 437 -5 printfields 462 457 -5 join_main 843 760 -83 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (add/remove: 0/0 grow/shrink: 0/3 up/down: 0/-93) Total: -93 bytes Signed-off-by: Denys Vlasenko