If you run (here testing on Linux): bash -c 'read a; echo "<$a>"; tr b c'
And enter aaa<Ctrl-V><Ctrl-J>bbb<Return> You see "<aaa>", but not "ccc". That's because "read" reads up to 128 bytes of data in one read(2) invocation instead of reading one byte at a time like on other types on non-seekable files. Probably not a big deal as one is unlikely to type <Ctrl-V><Ctrl-J>. On the other end, when input is from the terminal, there's not much point optimising so you might as well read one byte at a time. See also: bash -c 'read a; echo "1: $a"; head -n 1; read b; echo "3: $b"' If typing a<Ctrl-V><Ctrl-J>b<Return>c<Return>, you see: 1: a c 3: b Instead of: 1: a b 3: c It's probably a bigger concern though if reading from a serial device (/dev/ttyS0) in raw mode for instance. -- Stephane
