Remove some arbitrary restrictions on size fields,

so that commands like "sort -k 18446744073709551616" no longer fail merely
because 18446744073709551616 doesn't fit in uintmax_t.  The trick is that
these fields can all be treated as effectively infinity;  their exact
values don't matter, since no internal buffer can be that long.
* src/join.c (string_to_join_field): Verify that SIZE_MAX <= ULONG_MAX
if the code assumes this.  Silently truncate too-large values to SIZE_MAX,
as the remaining code will do the right thing in this case.
* src/sort.c (parse_field_count): Likewise.
* src/uniq.c (size_opt, main): Likewise.
* tests/join/Test.pm (bigfield): New test.
* tests/sort/Test.pm (bigfield): New test.
* tests/uniq/Test.pm (121): New test.
Signed-off-by: Jim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>

1 files changed, 5 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/src/join.c b/src/join.c
index 77a389604..b113c543b 100644
--- a/src/join.c
+++ b/src/join.c
@@ -599,7 +599,8 @@ add_field (int file, size_t field)
 
 /* Convert a string of decimal digits, STR (the 1-based join field number),
    to an integral value.  Upon successful conversion, return one less
-   (the zero-based field number).  If it cannot be converted, give a
+   (the zero-based field number).  Silently convert too-large values
+   to SIZE_MAX - 1.  Otherwise, if a value cannot be converted, give a
    diagnostic and exit.  */
 
 static size_t
@@ -607,16 +608,12 @@ string_to_join_field (char const *str)
 {
   size_t result;
   unsigned long int val;
+  verify (SIZE_MAX <= ULONG_MAX);
 
   strtol_error s_err = xstrtoul (str, NULL, 10, &val, "");
   if (s_err == LONGINT_OVERFLOW || (s_err == LONGINT_OK && SIZE_MAX < val))
-    {
-      error (EXIT_FAILURE, 0,
-	     _("value %s is so large that it is not representable"),
-	     quote (str));
-    }
-
-  if (s_err != LONGINT_OK || val == 0)
+    val = SIZE_MAX;
+  else if (s_err != LONGINT_OK || val == 0)
     error (EXIT_FAILURE, 0, _("invalid field number: %s"), quote (str));
 
   result = val - 1;