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Problem Report 0690 Details

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    Problem Report Number 0690
    Submitter's Classification Specification problem
    State Resolved
    Resolution Permanent Interpretation (PIN)
    Problem Resolution ID PIN.X.0083
    Raised 1970-01-01 08:00
    Updated 2003-03-13 08:00
    Published 1997-07-07 08:00
    Product Standard Commands and Utilities V2 (UNIX 95)
    Certification Program The Open Brand certification program
    Test Suite VSC version 4.1.4
    Test Identification POSIX.upe/ex 277,379,387
    Specification Commands and Utilities Issue 4 Version 2
    Location in Spec See Problem Text
    Problem Summary PIN4C.00031 The tests may fail on implementations that conform to POSIX 1003.2b/D11.
    Problem Text
    The tests may fail on implementations that adhere to historic practice
    and begin with the last line instead of the first. Although POSIX.2
    interpretation #64 reaffirms the behavior, the POSIX.2b draft reinstates
    the historic behavior.

    The tests in question verify the following assertions:

    277:
    When the range substitute /pattern/repl/ count command is invoked, then
    the first instance of a string which matches the regular expression
    pattern is replaced by the string repl on each of the first line
    referenced by range and the following count-1 lines.

    379:
    When the [range] & command is invoked, then the substitution pair
    /pattern/repl/ from the previous substitute is used and the first
    instance of a string which matches the regular expression pattern is
    replaced by the string repl on each line specified by range (default:
    current line.)

    387:
    When the range ~ count command is invoked, then the substitution pair
    /pattern/repl/, where pattern is the last regular expression used in any
    command and repl is the replacement string from the previous substitute,
    is used and the first instance of a string which matches the regular
    expression pattern is replaced by the string repl on each of the first
    line referenced by range and the following count-1 lines.

    The portion of the assertions that is at issue is the description of
    the range of lines that are affected when an ex command uses both a
    range and a count. The text in these assertions is based on the
    following language in XCU4 Issue 2, p. 305:

    If both a count and a range are specified for a command that
    uses them, the number of lines afected will be taken from the
    count rather than the range. The starting line for the
    command is taken to be the first line addressed by the range.

    This language is taken directly from POSIX.2. However, this does not
    describe the historical behavior of ex. IEEE interpretation
    pasc-1003.2-064 addresses a large number of issues regarding vi and ex,
    including this one. This interpretation request is too long to cite
    here in its entirety, but it states in part:

    (9) Command Descriptions
    Section 5.10.7.2, page 523, line 1309

    Historically, if both a count and range were specified, the offset
    was from the LAST address, not the first. The offset in the case
    was inclusive, so ":2,5c7" changes line 5 and 6 others. There is
    one exception to this, the join command, for which the offset was
    NOT inclusive, so the command "2,3join3" joins 3 lines, not 2.

    Suggestion:
    Conform to historic practice.

    The response to this section was:

    Q9:

    The standard states the behavior for ranges and counts in ex, and
    conforming implementations must conform to this. However, concerns
    have been raised about this which are being referred to the sponsor.

    Note also that the language on which the assertion was based is no
    longer present in the most recent draft of POSIX.2b (rather, the
    historical behavior is described), and that the test suite itself
    contains a comment written to the journal to the effect that this
    appears to be an error and will change. In view of this, the assertion
    is clearly a grey area.

    Test Output
    -----------------start of test output------------------

    ************************************************************************
    /tset/POSIX.upe/ex/ex_05.ex 1 Failed


    Test Information:
    Assertion #277 (C): specification of [range]substitute /pattern/str/
    count
    Note: The behavior associated with this assertion is expected
    to change in a future revision of POSIX.2.
    Expected exit code = 0; Received 1
    diff of "ex_data_1" and "ex_exp_1":
    5c5
    < abc abc
    ---
    > 012 abc
    8c8
    < abc abc abc
    ---
    > 012 abc abc
    Command failed: 'jrnl_file_diff ex_data_1 ex_exp_1'
    ************************************************************************


    ************************************************************************
    /tset/POSIX.upe/ex/ex_07.ex 1 Failed


    Test Information:
    Assertion #379 (C): specification of ex "range & count" command
    Note: The behavior associated with this assertion is expected
    to change in a future revision of POSIX.2.
    diff of "ex_data_1" and "ex_exp_1":
    *** ex_data_1 Thu Sep 21 05:17:49 1995
    --- ex_exp_1 Thu Sep 21 05:17:49 1995
    ***************
    *** 1,5 ****
    012 abc
    - abc
    - abc
    - def
    12
    --- 1,5 ----
    012 abc
    12
    + 012
    + def
    + abc
    Command failed: 'cmp_show ex_data_1 ex_exp_1'
    Expected exit code = 0; Received 1
    diff of "ex_data_2" and "ex_exp_2":
    *** ex_data_2 Thu Sep 21 05:17:53 1995
    --- ex_exp_2 Thu Sep 21 05:17:53 1995
    ***************
    *** 1,5 ****
    12
    abc
    ! abc abc
    def
    abc abc abc
    --- 1,5 ----
    12
    abc
    ! 012 abc
    def
    abc abc abc
    Command failed: 'cmp_show ex_data_2 ex_exp_2'
    ************************************************************************


    ************************************************************************
    /tset/POSIX.upe/ex/ex_07.ex 1 Failed


    Test Information:
    Assertion #387 (C): specification of ex "range ~ count" command
    Note: The behavior associated with this assertion is expected
    to change in a future revision of POSIX.2.
    diff of "ex_data_1" and "ex_exp_1":
    *** ex_data_1 Thu Sep 21 05:20:02 1995
    --- ex_exp_1 Thu Sep 21 05:20:02 1995
    ***************
    *** 1,6 ****
    12
    abc
    - abc
    - abc
    def
    ! 012
    --- 1,6 ----
    12
    + 012
    + 012
    abc
    def
    ! abc
    Command failed: 'cmp_show ex_data_1 ex_exp_1'
    diff of "ex_data_2" and "ex_exp_2":
    *** ex_data_2 Thu Sep 21 05:20:06 1995
    --- ex_exp_2 Thu Sep 21 05:20:06 1995
    ***************
    *** 1,7 ****
    12
    abc
    abc
    ! abc abc
    def
    ! abc abc abc
    ! 012
    --- 1,7 ----
    12
    abc
    abc
    ! 012 abc
    def
    ! 012 abc abc
    ! abc
    Command failed: 'cmp_show ex_data_2 ex_exp_2'
    ************************************************************************
    ------------------end of test output-------------------

    Note: this output was from the vrpt report.

    Review Information

    Review Type TSMA Review
    Start Date null
    Completed null
    Status Complete
    Review Recommendation No Resolution Given
    Review Response
    Anticipating acceptance of the completely rewritten ex specification
    in POSIX 2003.2b/D11 and the eventual alignment of the tests with it
    a temporary interpretation is recommended.

    Review Type SA Review
    Start Date null
    Completed null
    Status Complete
    Review Resolution Permanent Interpretation (PIN)
    Review Conclusion
    A Permanent Interpretation is granted.

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