patch for bash 3.2 manpage parameter expansion operator summaries

[Ken Irving]

Configuration Information [Automatically generated, do not change]:
Machine: i486
OS: linux-gnu
Compiler: gcc
Compilation CFLAGS:  -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='i486' 
-DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='i486-pc-linux-gnu' 
-DCONF_VENDOR='pc' -DLOCALEDIR='/usr/share/locale' -DPACKAGE='bash' -DSHELL 
-DHAVE_CONFIG_H   -I.  -I../bash -I../bash/include -I../bash/lib   -g -O2 -Wall
uname output: Linux hayes 2.6.18-4-686 #1 SMP Wed May 9 23:03:12 UTC 2007 i686 
GNU/Linux
Machine Type: i486-pc-linux-gnu

Bash Version: 3.2
Patch Level: 39
Release Status: release

Description:
        While the first few parameter expansion operator entries include a
        brief summary of what the entity does (in bold), the last several
        do not.  One has to read and parse quite a bit of text to even
        get a hint of what some of the operators do.  Entry D3 in the
        FAQ, though, does show summaries for a few of those operators,
        and I thought the bash(1) manual page would benefit by the
        addition of similar summaries.

Repeat-By:
        man bash
        /^ *Parameter Expansion
        ...

Fix:
        I'll try to include a patch at the bottom of this report, below,
        generated by diff -u.

        FYI, following are the entries with just the added text summaries
        shown:
        
            ${!prefix*}
            ${!prefix@}
                   Expand to names matching prefix.
        
            ${!name[@]}
            ${!name[*]}
                   Expand to array indices/keys.
        
            ${#parameter}
                   Parameter length.
        
            ${parameter#word}
            ${parameter##word}
                   Remove smallest or largest prefix pattern.
        
            ${parameter%word}
            ${parameter%%word}
                   Remove smallest or largest suffix pattern.
        
            ${parameter/pattern/string}
                   Pattern substitution.

Thanks,

Ken

$ cat ~/tmp/bash-manpage-fix/bash-3_2-manpage-hints.patch
--- bash.1      2008-10-24 09:49:30.000000000 -0800
+++ ki-bash.1   2008-10-24 10:40:05.000000000 -0800
@@ -2437,6 +2437,7 @@
 .TP
 ${\fB!\fP\fIprefix\fP\fB@\fP}
 .PD
+\fBExpand to names matching prefix\fP.
 Expands to the names of variables whose names begin with \fIprefix\fP,
 separated by the first character of the
 .SM
@@ -2448,6 +2449,7 @@
 .TP
 ${\fB!\fP\fIname\fP[\fI*\fP]}
 .PD
+\fBExpand to array indices/keys\fP.
 If \fIname\fP is an array variable, expands to the list of array indices
 (keys) assigned in \fIname\fP.
 If \fIname\fP is not an array, expands to 0 if \fIname\fP is set and null
@@ -2456,6 +2458,7 @@
 key expands to a separate word.
 .TP
 ${\fB#\fP\fIparameter\fP}
+\fBParameter length\fP.
 The length in characters of the value of \fIparameter\fP is substituted.
 If
 .I parameter
@@ -2477,6 +2480,7 @@
 .TP
 ${\fIparameter\fP\fB##\fP\fIword\fP}
 .PD
+\fBRemove smallest or largest prefix pattern\fP.
 The 
 .I word
 is expanded to produce a pattern just as in pathname
@@ -2509,6 +2513,7 @@
 .TP
 ${\fIparameter\fP\fB%%\fP\fIword\fP}
 .PD
+\fBRemove smallest or largest suffix pattern\fP.
 The \fIword\fP is expanded to produce a pattern just as in
 pathname expansion.
 If the pattern matches a trailing portion of the expanded value of
@@ -2535,6 +2540,7 @@
 array in turn, and the expansion is the resultant list.
 .TP
 ${\fIparameter\fP\fB/\fP\fIpattern\fP\fB/\fP\fIstring\fP}
+\fBPattern substitution\fP.
 The \fIpattern\fP is expanded to produce a pattern just as in
 pathname expansion.
 \fIParameter\fP is expanded and the longest match of \fIpattern\fP