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IDProjectCategoryView StatusDate SubmittedLast Update
00012971003.1(2016/18)/Issue7+TC2Shell and Utilitiespublic2019-10-15 03:232019-12-12 17:28
Reporterkre Assigned To 
PrioritynormalSeverityEditorialTypeEnhancement Request
Status ClosedResolutionDuplicate 
NameRobert Elz
Organization
User Reference
Section2.6
Page Number2353
Line Number75008-10
Interp Status---
Final Accepted Text
Summary0001297: Potentially misleading wording wrt removal of empty fields
DescriptionA non-English speaking reader justified an implementation doing

    set -- ''
    set -- X $* Y
    echo $#
    2

vs

    set -- '' ''
    set -- X $* Y
    echo $#
    4

based upon the wording in XCU 2.6:

        If the complete expansion appropriate for a word results in an
        empty field, that empty field shall be deleted from the list of
        fields that form the completely expanded command, [...]

the reasoning being that in the 2nd case above, there is not "an empty field"
there are 2 empty fields produced from the expansion of the word "$*" and
thus there is no expectation/requirement that anything be deleted.

I do not believe that the wording was intended to produce that result, or
that any native English speaker/reader would interpret the language that
way, while "an" (or "a") is used in the singular, it is not imperative
singular in a case like this.

However we should not be targeting just native English speakers in the
standard, and it would be harmless to write explicitly what this actually
means, so:
Desired ActionAssuming they still remain after all the other changes that have
been made, change the words in XCU 2.6 page 2353 line 75008 from

    If the complete expansion appropriate for a word results in an
    empty field, that empty field shall be deleted from

to

    Any empty field that results from the complete expansion appropriate
    for a word shall be deleted from

(or something similar with a similar intent). If the relevant text has
been altered by some other bug report, make sure that the intended replacement
does not have a similar problem.
TagsNo tags attached.

Relationships

duplicate of 0001123 Closed 1003.1(2013)/Issue7+TC1 Problematic specification of execution environment for word expansions 

Activities

geoffclare

2019-10-15 10:10

manager   bugnote:0004622

Your stated assumption (in the Desired Action) is false. The text in question is being deleted by bug 0001123

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2019-10-15 03:23 kre New Issue
2019-10-15 03:23 kre Name => Robert Elz
2019-10-15 03:23 kre Section => 2.6
2019-10-15 03:23 kre Page Number => 2353
2019-10-15 03:23 kre Line Number => 75008-10
2019-10-15 10:10 geoffclare Note Added: 0004622
2019-10-15 10:11 geoffclare Relationship added duplicate of 0001123
2019-12-12 17:28 geoffclare Interp Status => ---
2019-12-12 17:28 geoffclare Status New => Closed
2019-12-12 17:28 geoffclare Resolution Open => Duplicate