Call out IFS= more prominently.

Michael Diamond
2021-12-16 12:46:09 -08:00
parent 50cbe8f312
commit 5e82b09788

@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ echo "Enter name:"
read -r name
```
or
```sh
echo "Enter name:"
IFS= read -r name
```
### Rationale:
By default, `read` will interpret backslashes before spaces and line feeds (i.e. you can use backslashes in your string as an escape character). This is rarely expected or desired.
@@ -24,7 +31,13 @@ Normally you just want to read data _including backslashes_ which are part of th
>
> If this option is given, backslash does not act as an escape character.
Note that [`read -r`](https://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/internal.html#READR) will still strip leading and trailing spaces. `IFS="" read -r` prevents this.
#### Trimming whitespace
Even with `read -r`, leading and trailing whitespace will be stripped from the input. Although this may sometimes be desirable or harmless it is often surprising and difficult to catch. Clearing the `IFS` disables this behavior, so `IFS= read -r` is generally safest.
### See Also
* [Bash FAQ 001](https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/001)
### Exceptions: