use of %n in genmodes.c causes trouble on Vista

[Simon Brenner]

> Simon, you need to type:
>   man 3 printf
> to read about printf() the C function.
Argh! Indeed I was reading the wrong manpage. That probably means
almost everything I've concluded and said was wrong :/ Apparently,
throwing your two cents in can reduce the total value of a discussion.

> According to the page you cite, printf and fprintf "shall return the
> number of bytes transmitted".  When Olivier first suggested this, my
> original thought was the same as yours because I remembered the huge
> mess in the VAX days with sprintf (does it return int or char *?), but
> I've looked at lots of man pages (including ancient ones) and can't find
> anything that says anything else about the return of printf.

Perhaps that's just cargo cult portability talking then...

> > Or just add a call to _set_printf_count_output in the relevant
> > place, since AFAIK %n is still a standard-mandated printf format
> > flag.
>
> Where is the "relevant place"?  This would be a really messy host-dependent
> call and I think it far better to eliminate the usage in *some* way than
> to do this.

Perhaps it could be something for libiberty to take care of?