NetBSD Problem Report #60899

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Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:29:46 +0000 (UTC)
From: uwe@stderr.spb.ru
Reply-To: uwe@stderr.spb.ru
To: gnats-bugs@NetBSD.org
Subject: syntax of config(1) options is not documented
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X-From4GNATS: "uwe@stderr.spb.ru via gnats" <gnats-admin@NetBSD.org>

>Number:         60899
>Category:       bin
>Synopsis:       syntax of config(1) options is not documented
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    bin-bug-people
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Sun Oct 18 11:30:00 +0000 2026
>Originator:     Valery Ushakov
>Release:        NetBSD 11.0
>Organization:
>Environment:
>Description:
config(5) does not document the syntax of "value" in "defaparam" or "options".

When you learn from RTFS what the syntax is, you are still in for a
surprise, b/c

  options CNMAGIC="\"\\x27\\x01\""

results in

  #define CNMAGIC "\x27\x01"

but adding parens:

  options CNMAGIC="(\"\\x27\\x01\")"

results in

  #define CNMAGIC (\"\\x27\\x01\")


See fprintstr() in usr.bin/config/mkheaders.c

>How-To-Repeat:
Try to specify a kernel config option value that is not a simple string.

>Fix:

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