Re: substr() does't return null string

[Stephane Chazelas]

2019-12-19 11:56:41 -0500, Andrew J. Schorr:
[...]
> I think the wording is just a bit vague here. It should probably
> say "returns an empty string". But I defer to Arnold for the
> language lawyering.
[...]

quoting "info gawk Quoting":

DOC>    The null string is character data that has no value.  In other words,
DOC> it is empty.  It is written in 'awk' programs like this: '""'.  In the
DOC> shell, it can be written using single or double quotes: '""' or ''''.
DOC> Although the null string has no characters in it, it does exist.  For
DOC> example, consider this command:
DOC> 
DOC>      $ echo ""
DOC> 
DOC> Here, the 'echo' utility receives a single argument, even though that
DOC> argument has no characters in it.  In the rest of this Info file, we use
DOC> the terms "null string" and "empty string" interchangeably.  Now, on to
DOC> the quoting rules:
DOC>