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Extensions in the Bell Laboratories `awk'
=========================================

   Brian Kernighan, one of the original designers of Unix `awk', has
made his version available via his home page (Note: Other Freely
Available `awk' Implementations.).  This minor node
describes extensions in his version of `awk' that are not in POSIX
`awk'.

   * The `-mf N' and `-mr N' command-line options to set the maximum
     number of fields and the maximum record size, respectively (Note:
     Command-Line Options.).  As a side note, his `awk' no
     longer needs these options; it continues to accept them to avoid
     breaking old programs.

   * The `fflush' built-in function for flushing buffered output (Note:
     Input/Output Functions.).

   * The `**' and `**=' operators (*note Arithmetic Operators:
     Arithmetic Ops.  and Note: Assignment Expressions.

   * The use of `func' as an abbreviation for `function' (Note:
     Function Definition Syntax.).


   The Bell Laboratories `awk' also incorporates the following
extensions, originally developed for `gawk':

   * The `\x' escape sequence (Note: Escape Sequences).

   * The `/dev/stdin', `/dev/stdout', and `/dev/stderr' special files
     (Note: Special File Names in `gawk'.).

   * The ability for `FS' and for the third argument to `split' to be
     null strings (Note: Making Each Character a Separate Field.
).

   * The `nextfile' statement (Note: Using `gawk''s `nextfile'
     Statement.).

   * The ability to delete all of an array at once with `delete ARRAY'
     (Note: The `delete' Statement.).