format accepts to many parameters

[Cecil Westerhof]

The following works as expected:
format "| %-10s | %3s |" "" ""

But the following works the same:
format "| %-10s | %3s |" "" "" "" ""

Should that not result in an error? Because there are to many
parameters.

--
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

[heinrichmartin]

On Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 6:59:04 AM UTC+2, Cecil Westerhof wrote:
> But the following works the same:
> format "| %-10s | %3s |" "" "" "" ""
>
> Should that not result in an error? Because there are to many
> parameters.

It is not documented to result in an error.

There might also be valid use cases that omit values in the output text. I don't have one at hand, but think of it like trace callbacks:

# untested
trace add variable foo write {apply {{name1 name2 op} {
# name2 is never used here - it is for arrays only
# op is never used here - it always is "write"
}}}

[Robert Heller]

At Thu, 2 May 2019 00:59:48 -0700 (PDT) heinrichmartin <martin....@frequentis.com> wrote:

>
> On Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 6:59:04 AM UTC+2, Cecil Westerhof wrote:
> > But the following works the same:
> > format "| %-10s | %3s |" "" "" "" ""
> >
> > Should that not result in an error? Because there are to many
> > parameters.
>
> It is not documented to result in an error.

This is in fact also the case for C's printf() family. Excess parameters are
quiely ignored.

>
> There might also be valid use cases that omit values in the output text. I don't have one at hand, but think of it like trace callbacks:
>
> # untested
> trace add variable foo write {apply {{name1 name2 op} {
> # name2 is never used here - it is for arrays only
> # op is never used here - it always is "write"
> }}}
>

--
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http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
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[Cecil Westerhof]

Robert Heller <hel...@deepsoft.com> writes:

> At Thu, 2 May 2019 00:59:48 -0700 (PDT) heinrichmartin <martin....@frequentis.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 6:59:04 AM UTC+2, Cecil Westerhof wrote:
>> > But the following works the same:
>> > format "| %-10s | %3s |" "" "" "" ""
>> >
>> > Should that not result in an error? Because there are to many
>> > parameters.
>>
>> It is not documented to result in an error.
>
> This is in fact also the case for C's printf() family. Excess parameters are
> quiely ignored.

I thought I remembered that it was not accepted. But maybe I am
confusing things. Normally my format and parameters match up. :-D

I changed a format, but did not change the parameters. And it just
ran. A little later I realised I had not changed the parameters and
was wondering.

But if it is acceptable, I will not fuss about it.