bin/171725: awk(1) does not support word-boundary metacharacters

[Devin Teske]

The following reply was made to PR bin/171725; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Devin Teske <devin.teske at fisglobal.com>
To: <bug-followup at FreeBSD.org>, <dteske at FreeBSD.org>
Cc:  
Subject: Re: bin/171725: awk(1) does not support word-boundary metacharacters
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:24:00 -0700

 Enhancing awk(1), we should add support for "\<" and "\>" (not "[[:<:]]" an=
 d "[[:>:]]"). The reason we should support the former syntax is due to the =
 awk(1) manual which says (rather sparsely) "regular expressions are as-in e=
 grep(1)".
 
 If we are to rectify the functionality-gap between the awk(1) manual and aw=
 k(1) functionality, we should either fix the awk(1) manual (for example, to=
  say "regular expressions are as-in egrep(1) except for \< and \>") or we s=
 hould (preferred) add support for \< and \> so that the manual becomes accu=
 rate without modification.
 
 That is to say, that awk(1) should _not_ be enhanced to support [[:<:]] and=
  [[:>:]] as this would only further add to the functionality-gap between wh=
 at is documented and what is expected.
 --=20
 Devin
 
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