On Wed, Sep 14, 2022 at 11:51:41AM +0200, Luka Krmpoti?? wrote: > 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. >
hi. i think you should send a diff to say what you think it should say. jmc > 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.