Re: tcpd remarks warning

[dwhite () RESNET UOREGON EDU (Doug White)]

On Fri, 2 Apr 1999, Stefano Torricella wrote:

> Some days ago i've had a problem with tcpd 1.10 - patchlevel 7.6. I
> suppose that the problem is in the parser routine but i haven't
> checked the source. I try to describe the bug :
>
> suppose  you have an hosts.access or hosts.deny file like this
[...]
> # hosts.deny
> # some remarks
> #in.telnetd: 123.234.12.34,  98.76.54.32, \
> in.telnetd: 123.234.12.34,  \
>                   32.198.76.54
> ...
> well in this manner i've removed all the address !!! because the \ on the end of
> the remark  line is treated how  a continue of the normal line and in effect
> the comment continue for the next line and all the above line until the first line
> with the first char <> from space or tab !!

As a data point, Tcl handles this situation in the exact same way.  Any
parser that parses and reassembles lines before interpreting them will
exhibit this behavior. I wouldn't call this a 'bug', more of a
'peculiarity.':-) Such behavior does have its uses.

To avoid such situations, I don't use line-continuations in config files.

Doug White
Internet:  dwhite () resnet uoregon edu    | FreeBSD: The Power to Serve
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite    | www.freebsd.org