[Bug 1793350] Re: column error if no trailing newline

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

** Changed in: bsdmainutils (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Confirmed

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to bsdmainutils in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1793350

Title:
  column error if no trailing newline

Status in bsdmainutils package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  The utility ``column`` gives the error ``column: line too long``, and
  does not produce the correct output, when given an input without a
  trailing newline:

  $ python3 -c "print('a\nb\nc')" | column
  a	b	c
  $ python3 -c "print('a\nb\nc', end='')" | column
  column: line too long
  a	b
  $

  This seems to be a bug, as it is not the case on my Manjaro laptop,
  which uses the column utility from pacman's util-linux package:

  $ python3 -c "print('a\nb\nc')" | column
  a	b	c
  $ python3 -c "print('a\nb\nc', end='')" | column
  a	b	c
  $ pacman -Qo column
  /usr/bin/column is owned by util-linux 2.32.1-2

  Building the util-linux on ubuntu similarly gives what would appear to
  be correct behaviour:

  $ make column > /dev/null
  $ python3 -c "print('a\nb\nc', end='')" | ./column 
  a	b	c
  $

  
  System / package information:

  $ lsb_release -rd
  Description:	Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
  Release:	18.04
  $ apt-cache policy bsdmainutils
  bsdmainutils:
    Installed: 11.1.2ubuntu1
    Candidate: 11.1.2ubuntu1
    Version table:
   *** 11.1.2ubuntu1 500
          500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bsdmainutils/+bug/1793350/+subscriptions