According to Chris F.A. Johnson on 2/18/2010 6:20 AM: > On Thu, 18 Feb 2010, jida...@jidanni.org wrote: > >> $ expr 3.1 + 3 >> expr: non-numeric argument <---say "non integer argument" >> $ expr 3.1 + 3b >> expr: non-numeric argument > > The expr command's arithmetic only works with integers.
But that's not his point. The point is that 3.1 is numeric, so the error could be fine-tuned to state that expr expects integers to make it clear that numeric but non-integer is the reason for the failure. And I'm inclined to agree. I see nothing in POSIX that requires the current error string, or forbids a more specific error string. jidanni, it would be a two-line patch to expr.c. Would you care to write such a patch, rather than just complaining? -- Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well! Eric Blake e...@byu.net
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