On 3/26/25 6:52 AM, Léa Gris wrote:
LANG=C LC_NUMERIC=C printf '%s\t%f\t%f\n' "$LC_NUMERIC" 3.141592654
3,141592654
Outputs:
bash: printf: 3,141592654: invalid number
fr_FR.UTF-8 3.141593 3.000000
In this particular case, the expansion of LC_NUMERIC is performed before
the `printf' builtin is invoked, and the assignments preceding the
command don't affect it. (Variable assignments are processed after word
expansion.)
Even though LC_NUMERIC=C is used to correctly parse 3.141592654, the
expansion of $LC_NUMERIC still prints its original value (fr_FR.UTF-8).
I think you're misunderstanding the order of execution here.
This may not necessarily be a bug, but the behavior is counterintuitive and
inconsistent, making it difficult to predict how inline environment
variables will affect both variable expansion and command execution. Some
clarification in the Bash documentation could be helpful.
What additions would you suggest? The order of execution is described in
SIMPLE COMMAND EXPANSION. The locale variables and their precedence
hierarchy are described in Shell Variables with the rest of the variables
bash uses.
--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, UTech, CWRU c...@case.edu http://tiswww.cwru.edu/~chet/
