Re: [bug-gawk] in-place edit request

[Ed Morton]

Andy -

On 12/31/2012 11:30 AM, Andrew J. Schorr wrote:
> Hi Ed,
>
> On Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 11:20:19AM -0600, Ed Morton wrote:
> > This "extension" stuff - where can I find out more about it? I found
> > http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/gawk.html#Dynamic-Extensions
> > but it doesn't mention "-i" so I'm not sure if that's the right
> > "extension"s we're talking about.
> There is not yet an official release with the upgraded extension functionality.

I have a feeling this is going to go down well but here goes: can we change the 
existing un-released code to use some other letter for extension functionality 
from "-i" to some other letter (I was going to suggest the obvious "e" or "E" 
but I see they're already taken so how about -x for eXtension?) and then use 
"-i" for "inplace"?

From a user perspective "-i" is no better than any other letter for extensions 
but "gawk -i" is a much better choice than "gawk -i inplace" for in-place 
editing since all other tools use "-i" so it's exactly what users would expect.

I know it's more work but this stuff, once it's out there, will be around for a 
VERY long time and used by VERY many people and this is our one chance to get it 
right from a user perspective.

    Ed.