diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/gawk.texi')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/gawk.texi | 6 |
1 files changed, 4 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/doc/gawk.texi b/doc/gawk.texi index 30826891..2c24c8af 100644 --- a/doc/gawk.texi +++ b/doc/gawk.texi @@ -18385,13 +18385,15 @@ signal (bit 7) and if so, the guilty signal number (bits 0--6). Traditionally, @command{awk}'s @code{system()} function has simply returned the exit status value divided by 256. In the normal case this gives the exit status but in the case of death-by-signal it yields -a fractional floating-point value. POSIX states that @command{awk}'s +a fractional floating-point value.@footnote{In private correspondance, +Dr.@: Kernighan has indicated to me that the way this was done +was probably a mistake.} POSIX states that @command{awk}'s @code{system()} should return the full 16-bit value. @command{gawk} steers a middle ground. By default, it returns just the exit status. The @option{--traditional} option causes @command{gawk} to divide -the return vaue by 356, just as Brian Kernighan's @command{awk} does. +the return vaue by 256, just as Brian Kernighan's @command{awk} does. With @option{--posix}, it returns the full 16-bit value. If the process was killed by a signal, @command{gawk}'s @code{system()} |