Re: 2.59d on OpenServer

[Kean Johnston]

> Between 2.59 and 2.59e we have changed macros to not expand to long
> lines in the resulting scripts, but apparently some shells not only
> have limits in the line length, but also in the length of the assignment
> string; now, Kean's message above seems to imply that this length
> limitation is _before_ variable expansion, not afterwards.  Is that
> really the case?  IOW: is (a forward-ported and bug-fixed version of)
> the patch above still necessary for 2.59e?
Oops I was finally able to reproduce it with a smaller script. I
put the preamble of the generated configure script into my test
and it now barfs on the really long lines. And the limitation
really does seem to be at about 4000 characters (give or take a bit)
*before* expansion. So I can have:

  longvar="4K_of_text"
  longvar="$longvar 4K_more_of_text"

but not

  longvar="4K_of_text 4K_more_of_text"

but this limitation is *only* imposed when I have the beginning part
of the configure script, it does not apply if I simply write a script
with those contents. When I say "configure preamble" I mean the top
part of a configure script up to the bit where it sets the identity
of the package.

I'm not really sure how to diagnose this further. Also, I will not
personally be able to fix it, because I no longer work for SCO,
I just answer the occasional email such as this one :) But if we
find a recipe for how to reproduce it, I can certainly get in touch
with the right person.

Kean

PS. I'm sending this from my personal account which is the
preferred email address to use for me (I forgot to switch
accounts in my first reply).

--
"Your self-crippling is your own business just as your limitations
 are society’s burden" -- Dan Simmons