Re: awk comands inside m4 macros

[Stepan Kasal]

Hello,

On Sat, Jul 16, 2005 at 01:54:11PM +0100, Keith Marshall wrote:
> > WANT_BOOST_MAJOR=`echo $boost_min_version | $AWK -F. '{print $1}'`
...
> WANT_BOOST_MAJOR=`echo $boost_min_version | $AWK -F. '{print $[1]}'`
> 
> m4 sees $1 as a macro argument, and tries to expand it -- you need to 
> separate the `$' and the `1', with quoting, to get `$1' passed through to 
> configure unscathed.d

> Alternatively, if depth of quoting becomes an issue, you may need the 
> address@hidden|@' 
> quadrigraph, in place of the `$'.

Another possibilities are [$]1 or $[]1, depends on your taste.
([$1] doesn't help, m4 still sees the substring "$1".)

I noticed that Paul Eggert uses '{print $ 1}'.  This makes use of the fact
that awk syntax allows the optional space.

> Same applies to any of `$0'..`$9'. 

... and to '$#'.
 
Have a nice day,
        Stepan Kasal