Robert Henney wrote: > from man page: > > FORMAT controls the output as in C printf. Interpreted sequences are: > [...] > \c produce no further output
This is not a bug in the program. However it may be a deficiency in the online documentation. At least it is an area where the GNU documentation could be improved. Documentation patches and suggestions are always welcome. Best to send those upstream directly. The man page is designed as a quick reference to the commands and options. As noted in the man page the full documentation is in the online info pages. However this feature it not documented very well in the info pages either. The online POSIX standards describe this feature in better detail as belonging only to the %b format specifier. > but executing > printf "one\n\cword\n" > > produces > one > \cword The printf program mimics the C printf(3) routine. This includes various format specifiers such as %s. printf "%s\n" hello Additionally a %b specifier is provided to mimic the old echo program behavior. printf "%b\n" hello The POSIX echo program provides \c as a way to not print a newline. (But the BSD echo uses -n for this. This is one of the classic portability problems with using echo across different systems.) echo "prompt: \c" Using printf in the echo compatibility mode. printf "%b\n" "prompt: \c" That prints no newline at the end off the string. Using your example: printf "%b\n" "one\n\cword\n" one While it is not documented in the GNU info manual very well the printf program is behaving as expected. The \c is only useful when used with the %b format specifier. > interestingly, on our freebsd system the man page says the same thing > and their binary isn't acknowledging the \c either. same source? Not the same source. But written to the same POSIX specification. Bob -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
