Is it a bug that zsh print the full string with printf '%.s'?












7















The command printf '%.0s-' `seq 1 30`; echo works fine in all shells tested:



/bin/jsh        : ------------------------------
/bin/attsh : ------------------------------
/bin/y2sh : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/lksh : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh4 : ------------------------------


Except for jsh (heirloom shell), y2sh Yet another shell, version 2.39 and lksh (Legacy Korn shell) all other implement a printf builtin:



/bin/attsh      : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/dash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b203sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b43sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b44sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/bash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh93 : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/mksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh4 : printf is a shell builtin


But this line: printf '%.s-' `seq 1 30`; echo makes (only) zsh fail:



/bin/attsh      : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-
/bin/zsh4 : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-


The POSIX spec states that:




The precision shall take the form of a ( '.' ) followed by a decimal digit string; a null digit string is treated as zero.




Even if the s format specification states (in the same link):




If the precision is omitted from the argument, it shall be taken to be infinite, so all bytes up to the end of the string shall be written.




It could be reasonable argued that a "missing" precision digit is not "omitted" but has been set to a "null" and therefore should be interpreted as zero.



It would follow that zsh has a bug here.



Is that the correct explanation?










share|improve this question




















  • 2





    I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

    – chepner
    Aug 11 '16 at 1:00
















7















The command printf '%.0s-' `seq 1 30`; echo works fine in all shells tested:



/bin/jsh        : ------------------------------
/bin/attsh : ------------------------------
/bin/y2sh : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/lksh : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh4 : ------------------------------


Except for jsh (heirloom shell), y2sh Yet another shell, version 2.39 and lksh (Legacy Korn shell) all other implement a printf builtin:



/bin/attsh      : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/dash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b203sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b43sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b44sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/bash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh93 : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/mksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh4 : printf is a shell builtin


But this line: printf '%.s-' `seq 1 30`; echo makes (only) zsh fail:



/bin/attsh      : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-
/bin/zsh4 : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-


The POSIX spec states that:




The precision shall take the form of a ( '.' ) followed by a decimal digit string; a null digit string is treated as zero.




Even if the s format specification states (in the same link):




If the precision is omitted from the argument, it shall be taken to be infinite, so all bytes up to the end of the string shall be written.




It could be reasonable argued that a "missing" precision digit is not "omitted" but has been set to a "null" and therefore should be interpreted as zero.



It would follow that zsh has a bug here.



Is that the correct explanation?










share|improve this question




















  • 2





    I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

    – chepner
    Aug 11 '16 at 1:00














7












7








7


0






The command printf '%.0s-' `seq 1 30`; echo works fine in all shells tested:



/bin/jsh        : ------------------------------
/bin/attsh : ------------------------------
/bin/y2sh : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/lksh : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh4 : ------------------------------


Except for jsh (heirloom shell), y2sh Yet another shell, version 2.39 and lksh (Legacy Korn shell) all other implement a printf builtin:



/bin/attsh      : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/dash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b203sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b43sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b44sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/bash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh93 : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/mksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh4 : printf is a shell builtin


But this line: printf '%.s-' `seq 1 30`; echo makes (only) zsh fail:



/bin/attsh      : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-
/bin/zsh4 : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-


The POSIX spec states that:




The precision shall take the form of a ( '.' ) followed by a decimal digit string; a null digit string is treated as zero.




Even if the s format specification states (in the same link):




If the precision is omitted from the argument, it shall be taken to be infinite, so all bytes up to the end of the string shall be written.




It could be reasonable argued that a "missing" precision digit is not "omitted" but has been set to a "null" and therefore should be interpreted as zero.



It would follow that zsh has a bug here.



Is that the correct explanation?










share|improve this question
















The command printf '%.0s-' `seq 1 30`; echo works fine in all shells tested:



/bin/jsh        : ------------------------------
/bin/attsh : ------------------------------
/bin/y2sh : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/lksh : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh4 : ------------------------------


Except for jsh (heirloom shell), y2sh Yet another shell, version 2.39 and lksh (Legacy Korn shell) all other implement a printf builtin:



/bin/attsh      : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/dash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b203sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b43sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/b44sh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/bash : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/ksh93 : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/mksh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh : printf is a shell builtin
/bin/zsh4 : printf is a shell builtin


But this line: printf '%.s-' `seq 1 30`; echo makes (only) zsh fail:



/bin/attsh      : ------------------------------
/bin/ash : ------------------------------
/bin/dash : ------------------------------
/bin/b203sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b43sh : ------------------------------
/bin/b44sh : ------------------------------
/bin/bash : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh : ------------------------------
/bin/ksh93 : ------------------------------
/bin/mksh : ------------------------------
/bin/zsh : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-
/bin/zsh4 : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-


The POSIX spec states that:




The precision shall take the form of a ( '.' ) followed by a decimal digit string; a null digit string is treated as zero.




Even if the s format specification states (in the same link):




If the precision is omitted from the argument, it shall be taken to be infinite, so all bytes up to the end of the string shall be written.




It could be reasonable argued that a "missing" precision digit is not "omitted" but has been set to a "null" and therefore should be interpreted as zero.



It would follow that zsh has a bug here.



Is that the correct explanation?







shell zsh printf






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Aug 11 '16 at 3:45

























asked Aug 11 '16 at 0:39







user79743















  • 2





    I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

    – chepner
    Aug 11 '16 at 1:00














  • 2





    I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

    – chepner
    Aug 11 '16 at 1:00








2




2





I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

– chepner
Aug 11 '16 at 1:00





I'd say "bug". "Precision" refers to both the . and the optional digit string; an omitted precision looks like to %s, not %.s.

– chepner
Aug 11 '16 at 1:00










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















8














Yes it is a bug (38306). The fix was released in Zsh 5.3.



Source: https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh/commit/e1c745a0dca56afb9cfcace1ef59449152290188






share|improve this answer


























  • Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

    – mklement0
    Aug 11 '16 at 18:45











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









8














Yes it is a bug (38306). The fix was released in Zsh 5.3.



Source: https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh/commit/e1c745a0dca56afb9cfcace1ef59449152290188






share|improve this answer


























  • Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

    – mklement0
    Aug 11 '16 at 18:45
















8














Yes it is a bug (38306). The fix was released in Zsh 5.3.



Source: https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh/commit/e1c745a0dca56afb9cfcace1ef59449152290188






share|improve this answer


























  • Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

    – mklement0
    Aug 11 '16 at 18:45














8












8








8







Yes it is a bug (38306). The fix was released in Zsh 5.3.



Source: https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh/commit/e1c745a0dca56afb9cfcace1ef59449152290188






share|improve this answer















Yes it is a bug (38306). The fix was released in Zsh 5.3.



Source: https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh/commit/e1c745a0dca56afb9cfcace1ef59449152290188







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 17 mins ago

























answered Aug 11 '16 at 1:22









DarkHeartDarkHeart

3,52132340




3,52132340













  • Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

    – mklement0
    Aug 11 '16 at 18:45



















  • Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

    – mklement0
    Aug 11 '16 at 18:45

















Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

– mklement0
Aug 11 '16 at 18:45





Great sleuthing; it's worth noting that the fix isn't in the officially released v5.2, however, so as of this writing the latest official release doesn't have the fix yet.

– mklement0
Aug 11 '16 at 18:45


















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