Re: [doc] read -t and sockets, devices...

[Chet Ramey]

Stephane Chazelas wrote:

>         However, I find that it does have an effect on Unix or
>         TCP sockets, on /dev/random and other terminals than
>         "the" terminal.
>
>
>         So maybe a better wording could be: "This option has no
>         effect on regular files"?

Thanks, I'll put in something combining those two concepts.

>         Also, it may be good to specify that, if the timeout is
>         reached, bash will consume the input but will not put
>         that consumed input into the variable:

Actually, the bash-4.0 implementation will put the input read into
the specified variable(s), but will still return failure if the timeout
is hit.

I think the best way to differentiate is to clear the variable before
the call, then check the variable afterward.  You can treat the read
as having failed, but still use whatever data was read, if any.

Chet

--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer

Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/