Re: [gawk] a bug or a feature?

[Stepan Kasal]

Hello,

On Fri, Apr 25, 2003 at 11:59:25AM +0200, Boguslaw Jackowski wrote:
> [with GNU awk] version (at least) 3.1.0 (also in 3.1.2).
...
>   BEGIN {a(); b(S)}
>   function a() {delete S}
>   function b(s) {s[0]}
...
>   ... fatal: delete: illegal use of variable `S' as array

this is definitely a bug, as a correct awk program is not interpreted
correctly.

I have made a few changes to the gawk source code to fix various
subtle problems with typing of variables (arrays vs. scalars),
which will probably get into the next gawk release.

But before these changes are properly integrated (read: "debugged" :-),
it's much safer to use a small patch directed at the particular problem
you experienced---please apply the patch attached to this mail
(relative to gawk 3.1.2).

In case of other problems, please mail us again.

Thank you very much for reporting the bug,
        Stepan Kasal

gawk-3.1.2-del_arr_var.patch
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