Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!bbn!bbn.com!kadler
From: kadler@bbn.com (Kyle Adler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: GNU awk (gawk) on MS-DOS
Keywords: awk gnu gawk
Message-ID: <24837@bbn.COM>
Date: 20 May 88 19:14:02 GMT
References: <1455@titan.camcon.uucp>
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Reply-To: kadler@alexander.bbn.com.BBN.COM (Kyle Adler)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Lines: 25


I seem to have been luckier than some netters in that I've gotten the
GAWK binary (as posted) to do some useful work.  The executable seems
to work as advertised for string operations.  However, I've had no end
of problems with numeric operations.  

For example, the simple script "{print i++}" results in seemingly
random garbage, as though the machine is trying to print the ASCII
value of the integer.  Forcing the variable into decimal format using
"{printf("%3d\n", i++)}" seems to work for integers.  Unfortunately,
even printf doesn't work properly for floating point results.  The
script "{printf("%7.2f\n", NR/3)}" typically either prints zeroes or
minus zeroes, or else hangs the machine.

Has anyone else encountered these sorts of problems with GAWK under
MS-DOS?  This program would be indispensable if only it worked.  I'm
running it on an AT compatible.  By the way, I've gotten the version
for UNIX to compile and run successfully.

Thanks for any help.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyle S. Adler              BBN Communications Corporation
(617) 873-3009             150 CambridgePark Drive, Cambridge, MA 02115
Internet: kadler@bbn.com   Usenet: {decvax,wjh12,ihnp4,harvard}!bbnccv!kadler