Re: [bug-gawk] v4.1.3 (run on OSX 10.11.3): potential gsub() bug

[Wolfgang Laun]

On 7 February 2016 at 16:54, Michael Klement <address@hidden> wrote:

Generally, it sounds like the right thing to do is:

• in a UTF-8 locale, *always* deal with *characters* (Unicode codepoints), not bytes
• specifically, when encountering \xhh, compare it to the *Unicode codepoint* of the character at hand

Always dealing with characters makes sense to me, especially given that you can mix Unicode characters and \xhh escapes in a single bracket _expression_.

Thus, given that \xff is the max. codepoint value that can currently be expressed, which doesn't allow matching the full range of Unicode characters, I suggest the following:

• At https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/html_node/Bracket-Expressions.html#Bracket-Expressions:
• document this limitation
• recommend the workaround of using actual characters rather than codepoint escapes as the range endpoints.

So if an awk program file requires such (UTF-8 encoded) characters: is your editor capable of handling the characters you need, and is the keyboard (and the skill with it) you have sufficient for typing it? Also consider what happens if a not-so-capable editor is handling such a file. - The various escapes for typing a character may be the only way to guarantee portability without being stymied by the ubiquitious � - haven't we all seen it?

Best

Wolfgang