Re: Assigning to NF

[Dave B]

Aharon Robbins wrote:

> Thanks for the note.  To add more fields, POSIX says just increase NF
> to the desired value.  The record is then rebuilt automatically the
> next time it's referenced; the $1 = $1 isn't necessary.

Can you please provide a reference for that? I found nothing in the new
POSIX specs. The closest thing I've found (but which describes a different
thing), is this:

"References to nonexistent fields (that is, fields after $NF), shall
evaluate to the uninitialized value. Such references shall not create new
fields. However, assigning to a nonexistent field (for example, $(NF+2)=5)
shall increase the value of NF; create any intervening fields with the
uninitialized value; and cause the value of $0 to be recomputed, with the
fields being separated by the value of OFS."

It seems to me that what you said cannot be deduced as a consequence of the
above text.

Thank you!

-- 
D.