internal field separators

1 definition found

internal field separators - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  internal field separators
  
     <operating system> ($IFS) A predefined environment variable
     in the Unix Bourne shell whose default value is the
     three-character string containing space, tab and line feed
     .  Any string of one or more of these characters
     separates the command and each of its arguments in a command
     line.
  
     $IFS also tells the shell's built-in read command where to
     split an input line when reading into multiple variables.
     E.g. setting IFS=: would be appropriate for reading a file
     with ':'-separated fields, such as /etc/passwd.
  
     (1999-04-07)