section "DESCRIPTION" of sed man(1) page, says >The form of a sed command is as follows: > [address[,address]]function[arguments] >Whitespace may be inserted before the first address and the function >portions of the command. https://github.com/openbsd/src/blob/16748403c325ab5b4e9457bf8f0879a6698daba9/usr.bin/sed/sed.1#L138-L139
I don't understand where this whitespace would go, perhaps it should say: >Whitespace may be inserted between the address and the function >portions of the command. if I use a `-f command_file` I tested that I can indeed insert a whitespace between address & function portions, e.g. `1,3p` as well as `1,3 p` work. For this and the following mentions of whitespace, I have not managed to make whitespace work when command was given as an argument (either alone or part of -e flag). In my tests, I could insert whitespaces in sed commands only in `command_file`. This behavior is not mentioned in the man page. section "SED FUNCTIONS": >The r and w functions, as well as the w flag to the s function, take a >file parameter, which should be separated from the function or flag by >whitespace. The r & w & s (with w flag) functions work also if file parameter is NOT separated, while if it IS separated by whitespace, they only work as part of `command_file`. perhaps, the instruction should read something like >The r and w functions, as well as the w flag to the s function, take a >file parameter, which can be separated from the function or flag by >whitespace in `command_file`. I haven't looked into IEEE specification, perhaps the word "should" applies to that, and the sentence should be left as is. then we have >The b, r, s, t, w, y, and : functions all accept additional arguments. >The synopses below indicate which arguments have to be separated from the >function letters by whitespace characters. > >[2addr]b [label] >[1addr]r file >[2addr]s/RE/replacement/flags >[2addr]t [label] >[2addr]w file >[2addr]y/string1/string2/ >[0addr]:label again, (b,r,s,t,w) functions work without whitespace separation of arguments, while with whitespace only as part of `command_file` so why does it say `have to` (again, maybe because of IEEE spec?). maybe the wording should be >The b, r, s, t, w, y, and : functions all accept additional arguments. >The synopses below indicate which arguments can be separated from the >function letters by whitespace character in `command_file` In short, it is frustrating for someone learning sed, testing the sed functions using command argument (alone or part of -e), to be told to insert whitespace when this only works as part of `command_file`. Best, Luka P.S. I appreciate my suggestions getting replies, unfortunately I'm struggling with mail. I don't receive any replies in my inbox, and have to check https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-tech to see them.
