The following issue has been SUBMITTED.
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https://www.austingroupbugs.net/view.php?id=1861
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Reported By: stephane
Assigned To:
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Project: 1003.1(2024)/Issue8
Issue ID: 1861
Category: Shell and Utilities
Type: Error
Severity: Objection
Priority: normal
Status: New
Name: Stephane Chazelas
Organization:
User Reference:
Section: xargs utility
Page Number: 3601
Line Number: 123207-123214
Interp Status: ---
Final Accepted Text:
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Date Submitted: 2024-10-11 12:32 UTC
Last Modified: 2024-10-11 12:32 UTC
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Summary: xargs -L broken by
https://www.austingroupbugs.net/view.php?id=243 resolution
Description:
Between the 2018 and the 2024 editions, the description of the -L option
changed from:
-L number
[XSI] The utility shall be executed for each non-empty number
<strong>lines of arguments</strong> from standard input. The last
invocation of utility shall be with fewer lines of arguments if fewer than
number remain. A line is considered to end with the first <newline> unless
the last character of the line is an unescaped <blank>; a trailing
unescaped <blank> signals continuation to the next non-empty line,
inclusive.
To:
-L number
[XSI] Invoke utility for each set of <strong>number arguments</strong>
from standard input. The last invocation of utility shall be with fewer
arguments if fewer than number remain. If the -0 option is not specified,
each line in the standard input shall be treated as containing one argument
except that empty lines shall be ignored and a line ending with a trailing
unescaped <blank> shall signal continuation to the next non-empty line,
inclusive; such continuation shall result in removal of all trailing
unescaped <blank> characters and all <newline> characters that immediately
follow them from the argument.
(<strong>emphasis</strong> mine).
https://www.austingroupbugs.net/view.php?id=243 was about adding -0, it had no
business changing the behaviour of
-L so radically.
-Ln is to get arguments from n lines, not to treat n lines as one argument
each.
On an input like:
a "b c" d
e\ f
g
xargs -L1 cmd
Is meant to call cmd 3 times, once with "a", "b c" and "d" as arguments,
once with "e f" and once with "g"
Desired Action:
Revert the wording not related to "-0" to that of the 2018 edition.
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Issue History
Date Modified Username Field Change
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2024-10-11 12:32 stephane New Issue
2024-10-11 12:32 stephane Name => Stephane Chazelas
2024-10-11 12:32 stephane Section => xargs utility
2024-10-11 12:32 stephane Page Number => 3601
2024-10-11 12:32 stephane Line Number => 123207-123214
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