> The same view of "or"ing items should then apply to tables as well, as does
> the use of "{" "}" as macro expansion,
> and we all know this not true.
You are making up rules as you go along. Why don't you go read the code?
> It is also true that "{" and "}" elsewhere are not simple macro expansion.
Oh cut the crap. Obviously there are different levels that macro
expansion can happen. It isn't at the level that cpp works. It isn't
at the level that m4, a different macro expansion language works,
either. It isn't at the level that ksh expands it's macros, either.
Nor is it at the level that many other languages expand their macros.
But it is simple. Perhaps what you mean is that when people say it is
simple, is too complex for you to understand. Trust me. It is
simple. There have been proposals for other ways of doing this, but
(a) they were a lot more complex and (b) it is too late to change it
without very serious consideration. Especially considering how angry
people got at the last serious pf change made (which we had to, to
advance pf's internal architecture for many reasons).
> If they were simple macro expansion then
>
> Block {in out} from addr
>
> Would be valid and it is not
Let me put it this way: valid everything no not.
> The wishy washy words do tell you that those rules do not apply to address
> inside of tables
> (well at least in the pf faq they do, but not in man pf.conf) and that the use
> of "{" "}" there do not cause macro expansion.
>
> It does not bother me one way or another how it works. I can do what I want
> by creating an additional table.
> I got the information that I needed without the necessity of building a test
> system to try it.
>
> I don't think it is obvious, but I agree it would have be obvious if "{" "}",
> were a simple macro expansion, but they are not.
They are simple -- they are a simple substitution, even in the table
code. The problem is you don't understand that tables can keep track
of positive and negative matches internally -- when given the lists of
objects.
Frankly, I think you are a whiner.
