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Re: $? is -1

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  Re: $? is -1 Chet Ramey <chet.ramey@case.edu> - 2019-07-05 09:03 -0400

#15080 — Re: $? is -1

On 7/5/19 5:57 AM, bashbug@jonkmans.nl wrote:

> Bash Version: 4.4
> Patch Level: 19
> Release Status: release
> 
> Description:
> 	Two related issues, regarding negative exit status.
> 
> 	First, I always thought that the exit status, $?, was in the 0-255 range.
> 	( wait4 int argument for status masked with 0377 ) 
> 	But I got a -1 in the exit status of (builtin command) bind.
> 	Is this a bug or wanted behaviour?

It certainly seems like a problem.

> 	Second, when ran in a subshell, the same exit status gets mapped to 255.
> 	While logical, as -1 gets mapped to 255, it seems inconsistent.
> 	( from the manual: "The return status is the exit status of list." )

It's the difference between passing a status around the shell and passing
it through the waitpid() interface, which takes just eight bits.

-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
		 ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, UTech, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://tiswww.cwru.edu/~chet/

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