View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | View Status | Date Submitted | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0001129 | 1003.1(2016/18)/Issue7+TC2 | Shell and Utilities | public | 2017-03-21 14:32 | 2024-06-11 09:09 |
| Reporter | McDutchie | Assigned To | |||
| Priority | normal | Severity | Objection | Type | Error |
| Status | Closed | Resolution | Accepted | ||
| Name | Martijn Dekker | ||||
| Organization | modernish | ||||
| User Reference | |||||
| Section | C.2.5 | ||||
| Page Number | 3724 | ||||
| Line Number | 127689-127690 | ||||
| Interp Status | --- | ||||
| Final Accepted Text | |||||
| Summary | 0001129: Incorrect example output of IFS=''; unset var; printf '%s\n' ${var-$*} | ||||
| Description | According to the specification (2.5.2 Special Parameters), given null IFS and unset 'var', the output of printf '%s\n' ${var-$*} should be: abc def ghi jkl and not abcdef ghijkl Reasoning: First, given an unset 'var', unquoted $* and unquoted ${var-$*} (and unquoted ${1+$*}, etc) should act identically. If they don't, that's a bug either way. Second, the cited example is contrary to the specification, which says: "Expands to the positional parameters, starting from one, initially producing one field for each positional parameter that is set. When the expansion occurs in a context where field splitting will be performed, any empty fields may be discarded and each of the non-empty fields shall be further split as described in Field Splitting. [...]" Well, the expansion occurs "in a context where field splitting will be performed" because it is unquoted (the fact that IFS happens to be null is neither here nor there; its value or lack thereof has no bearing on the lexical context). So the non-empty fields, having been generated, "shall be further split as described in Field Splitting", which, given that IFS is null, is a no-op. In other words, quoted "$*" should join the fields into one, but (given null IFS) unquoted $* should leave the fields alone altogether. In other words again, unquoted $* should act identically to unquoted $@, hence, unquoted ${var-$*}, ${1+$*}, etc. should act identically to unquoted ${var-$@}, ${1+$@}, etc. (Note that the case of a default assignment using a parameter substitution, e.g. ${var=$*} given unset 'var', is different; 2.6.2 Parameter Expansion explicitly states for ${parameter:=[word]} that "in all cases, the final value of /parameter/ shall be substituted". So the example in lines 127695-127696 is correct.) | ||||
| Desired Action | Change the example in lines 127689-127690 to: printf '%s\n' ${var-$*} abc def ghi jkl | ||||
| Tags | tc3-2008 | ||||
| Date Modified | Username | Field | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | New Issue | |
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | Name | => Martijn Dekker |
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | Organization | => modernish |
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | Section | => C.2.5 |
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | Page Number | => 3724 |
| 2017-03-21 14:32 | McDutchie | Line Number | => 127689-127690 |
| 2017-03-21 15:17 | geoffclare | Note Added: 0003646 | |
| 2017-03-22 11:50 | geoffclare | Note View State: 3646: public | |
| 2018-08-30 16:21 | Don Cragun | Interp Status | => --- |
| 2018-08-30 16:21 | Don Cragun | Resolution | Open => Accepted |
| 2018-08-30 16:21 | Don Cragun | Tag Attached: tc3-2008 | |
| 2018-08-30 16:22 | Don Cragun | Status | New => Resolved |
| 2019-10-31 11:35 | geoffclare | Status | Resolved => Applied |
| 2024-06-11 09:09 | agadmin | Status | Applied => Closed |
