John Cowan wrote: > Bob Proulx scripsit: > > It is using all of the spaces. See that "c b a" is reversed. But the > > problem is that the "d" is not terminated. > > I don't think your explanation really explains. With the terminator set > to space, the four records in the file are "a", "b", "c", and "d\n", > where the newline is added by "echo". So on output, you get a "d\n", > a "c", a "b", and an "a", all separated by spaces.
Ah, yes, you are right of course. That is a much better description. Thanks for the correction! > > Try this to add a space terminator: > > > > printf "a b c d " | tac --separator=" " ; echo > > d c b a > > > > printf "a b c d " | tac --separator=" " | od -c -tx1 > > 0000000 d c b a > > 64 20 63 20 62 20 61 20 > > This is different because "printf" doesn't add a newline to the end, > unlike "echo". Having or not having a terminating space is irrelevant, > just as it's normally irrelevant whether you have a terminating newline. Hmm... It is not irrelevant. Look at this case then: printf "a b c d" | tac --separator=" "; echo dc b a Because there is no terminator for the d record it is output without one when passed through tac. I think a delimiter really is needed after the d record on input for good results on output. Bob _______________________________________________ Bug-coreutils mailing list Bug-coreutils@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-coreutils
