Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!foot
From: foot@tc.fluke.COM (Andrew Proudfoot)
Newsgroups: comp.bugs.sys5
Subject: ksh bugs
Keywords: ksh
Message-ID: <10166@fluke.COM>
Date: 7 Aug 89 16:12:33 GMT
Sender: news@tc.fluke.COM
Distribution: na
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Lines: 46


We got ksh (the RELEASE file says it's the 6/15/88 version) from the
AT&T toolchest recently, and installed it on our Suns and Vaxes.  It
appears to have several bugs, though of course they may be the result
of faulty installation.  I haven't been watching this newsgroup
until now, and would appreciate copies of patches that have been
posted for these (or other) bugs.  Sorry if this rehashes old material.

Here are the bugs we've seen so far:

1.  When no result variable is explicitly provided, the "read"
    command is supposed to store the line it reads in the REPLY 
    variable.  But a "read" call without an explicit result variable 
    dumps core on our Suns (works OK on a Vax).

2. the "read" command does filename expansion on its input! 
   Just filename expansion; it doesn't do quote removal or tilde expansion.
   This happens only on the Suns, not on the Vaxes.

    $ ls /usr0/foot/xx
    file1   file2   file3
    $ ls ~foot/xx
    file1   file2   file3
    $ while read stuff; do echo $stuff; done << EOF
    > ~foot/xx/*
    > '/usr0/foot/xx/*'
    > /usr0/foot/xx/*
    > EOF
    ~foot/xx/*
    '/usr0/foot/xx/*'
    /usr0/foot/xx/file1 /usr0/foot/xx/file2 /usr0/foot/xx/file3


3. One large ksh script, when run by certain users on certain input,
   reports that it can't create new files in a writable directory,
   can't find commands that are in the search path, and can't even find
   commands for which correct full pathnames (like /bin/cp) are
   specified.  Seemingly irrelevant changes to the script, such as the
   addition of some "pwd" calls, can make the problem go away.  Unlike
   the first two bugs, this one does occur on the Vaxes (not sure if it
   happens on the Suns).

Andy Proudfoot			|| domain: foot@tc.fluke.COM
John Fluke Mfg. Co.,  M/S 223B	|| uucp:  {uw-beaver,microsof,sun}!fluke!foot
PO Box C9090			||
Everett, WA  98206		|| phone: (206) 356-5446