input file ends with non-newline

Douglas McIlroy <[email protected]> Fri, 6 Dec 2024 17:33:09 -0500
Newsgroups gmane.comp.gnu.m4.general
Message-ID <CAKH6PiWUZs35srn0tdo0+yL4n3JZtvXE0uXj6+mduV9uXOyxnw@mail.gmail.com>
Arguments are collected if a macro name is "immediately" followed by a
left parenthesis. Experiment shows that arguments are not collected
when a macro name occurs at the end of a file (without a following
newline) and the next input file begins with a left parenthesis. I
believe this behavior is incorrect.

However, the underlying error lies not with m4, but with the input
file. According to POSIX, a valid nonempty text file must end with a
newline. Other experiment suggests that m4 silently appends a missing
newline. Should it not warn when it does so?

Doug