A string between $' and ' may contain backslash escape sequences similar to
the ones in a C string constant (except that a single-quote must be escaped
and a double-quote need not be). Details are in the sh(1) man page.
This construct is useful to include unprintable characters, tabs and
newlines in strings; while this can be done with a command substitution
containing a printf command, that needs ugly workarounds if the result is to
end with a newline as command substitution removes all trailing newlines.
The construct may also be useful in future to describe unprintable
characters without needing to write those characters themselves in 'set -x',
'export -p' and the like.
The implementation attempts to comply to the proposal for the next issue of
the POSIX specification. Because this construct is not in POSIX.1-2008,
using it in scripts intended to be portable is unwise.
Matching the minimal locale support in the rest of sh, the \u and \U
sequences are currently not useful.
Exp-run done by: pav (with some other sh(1) changes)
5a49f52603