Re: IFS system variable

[Ian Macdonald]

On Thu 14 Feb 2002 at 20:00:12 +0200, you wrote:

> If eric's entry in the password file is not the first one, the code as
> you sent it will work; the assignment changes FS for subsequent records.
> But it's not right for the entire file; in particular, the first record
> is split using the default value of FS.

Ah, I see.

I usually wrap such things in a BEGIN {} clause anyway, so after you
pointed out the error of my ways, I was surprised to find that my
quick one-liner worked at all.

> Unix awk indeed used to work the way you wrote the program: if you
> changed FS before mucking with the fields, the record would be split
> with the new FS, but these semantics are just plain wrong and the Bell
> Labs awk has been fixed for a long time, as has the POSIX standard.

Thanks for the explanation.

Ian
-- 
Ian Macdonald               | Nobody said computers were going to be
ian@caliban.org             | polite. 
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