diff --git a/qse/include/qse/awk/awk.h b/qse/include/qse/awk/awk.h
index e79cea5a..1c55b89d 100644
--- a/qse/include/qse/awk/awk.h
+++ b/qse/include/qse/awk/awk.h
@@ -1365,6 +1365,7 @@ enum qse_awk_gbl_id_t
 	QSE_AWK_GBL_RLENGTH,
 	QSE_AWK_GBL_RS,
 	QSE_AWK_GBL_RSTART,
+	QSE_AWK_GBL_STRIPRECSPC,
 	QSE_AWK_GBL_SUBSEP,
 
 	/* these are not not the actual IDs and are used internally only 
diff --git a/qse/lib/awk/awk-prv.h b/qse/lib/awk/awk-prv.h
index 870e564f..6237f2fe 100644
--- a/qse/lib/awk/awk-prv.h
+++ b/qse/lib/awk/awk-prv.h
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ struct qse_awk_rtx_t
 		void* rs[2];
 		void* fs[2]; 
 		int ignorecase;
+		int striprecspc;
 
 		qse_awk_int_t nr;
 		qse_awk_int_t fnr;
diff --git a/qse/lib/awk/misc.c b/qse/lib/awk/misc.c
index 98430126..8ea0503e 100644
--- a/qse/lib/awk/misc.c
+++ b/qse/lib/awk/misc.c
@@ -926,7 +926,7 @@ qse_char_t* qse_awk_rtx_strxntokbyrex (
 			cursub.ptr++;
 			cursub.len--;
 		}
-		else if (rtx->awk->opt.trait & QSE_AWK_STRIPRECSPC)
+		else if (rtx->gbl.striprecspc > 0 || (rtx->gbl.striprecspc < 0 && (rtx->awk->opt.trait & QSE_AWK_STRIPRECSPC)))
 		{
 			/* match at the beginning of the input string */
 			if (match.ptr == substr) 
@@ -976,7 +976,7 @@ exit_loop:
 
 	/* the match is all spaces */
 	*errnum = QSE_AWK_ENOERR;
-	if (rtx->awk->opt.trait & QSE_AWK_STRIPRECSPC)
+	if (rtx->gbl.striprecspc > 0 || (rtx->gbl.striprecspc < 0 && (rtx->awk->opt.trait & QSE_AWK_STRIPRECSPC)))
 	{
 		/* if the match reached the last character in the input string,
 		 * it returns QSE_NULL to terminate tokenization. */
diff --git a/qse/lib/awk/parse.c b/qse/lib/awk/parse.c
index 5df255a8..9f49870a 100644
--- a/qse/lib/awk/parse.c
+++ b/qse/lib/awk/parse.c
@@ -364,6 +364,15 @@ static global_t gtab[] =
 	{ QSE_T("RS"),           2,  0 },
 
 	{ QSE_T("RSTART"),       6,  0 },
+
+	/* it decides the field construction behavior when FS is a regular expression and 
+	 * the field splitter is composed of whitespaces only. e.g) FS="[ \t]*";
+	 * if set to a non-zero value, remove leading spaces and trailing spaces off a record
+	 * before field splitting.
+	 * if set to zero, leading spaces and trailing spaces result in 1 empty field respectively.
+	 * if not set, the behavior is dependent on the awk->opt.trait & QSE_AWK_STRIPRECSPC */
+	{ QSE_T("STRIPRECSPC"),  11, 0 }, 
+
 	{ QSE_T("SUBSEP"),       6,  0 }
 };
 
diff --git a/qse/lib/awk/rec.c b/qse/lib/awk/rec.c
index e57a7591..0730d39c 100644
--- a/qse/lib/awk/rec.c
+++ b/qse/lib/awk/rec.c
@@ -255,11 +255,13 @@ static int split_record (qse_awk_rtx_t* rtx)
 		switch (how)
 		{
 			case 0:
+				/* 1 character FS */
 				p = qse_awk_rtx_strxntok (
 					rtx, p, len, fs_ptr, fs_len, &tok);
 				break;
 
 			case 1:
+				/* 5 character FS beginning with ? */
 				p = qse_awk_rtx_strxnfld (
 					rtx, p, len, 
 					fs_ptr[1], fs_ptr[2],
@@ -267,6 +269,7 @@ static int split_record (qse_awk_rtx_t* rtx)
 				break;
 
 			default:
+				/* all other cases */
 				p = qse_awk_rtx_strxntokbyrex (
 					rtx, 
 					QSE_STR_PTR(&rtx->inrec.line),
diff --git a/qse/lib/awk/run.c b/qse/lib/awk/run.c
index 11d23a21..9c8a8627 100644
--- a/qse/lib/awk/run.c
+++ b/qse/lib/awk/run.c
@@ -474,8 +474,10 @@ static int set_global (
 
 			if (fs_len > 1 && !(fs_len == 5 && fs_ptr[0] == QSE_T('?')))
 			{
+				/* it's a regular expression if FS contains multiple characters.
+				 * however, it's not a regular expression if it's 5 character
+				 * string beginning with a question mark. */
 				void* rex, * irex;
-			
 				qse_awk_errnum_t errnum;
 
 				if (qse_awk_buildrex (rtx->awk, fs_ptr, fs_len, &errnum, &rex, &irex) <= -1)
@@ -499,11 +501,17 @@ static int set_global (
 
 		case QSE_AWK_GBL_IGNORECASE:
 		{
-			qse_awk_val_type_t vtype = QSE_AWK_RTX_GETVALTYPE (rtx, val);
-			rtx->gbl.ignorecase = 
-				((vtype == QSE_AWK_VAL_INT && QSE_AWK_RTX_GETINTFROMVAL (rtx,val) != 0) ||
-				 (vtype == QSE_AWK_VAL_FLT && ((qse_awk_val_flt_t*)val)->val != 0.0) ||
-				 (vtype == QSE_AWK_VAL_STR && ((qse_awk_val_str_t*)val)->val.len != 0))? 1: 0;
+			qse_awk_int_t l;
+			qse_awk_flt_t r;
+			int vt;
+
+			vt = qse_awk_rtx_valtonum(rtx, val, &l, &r);
+			if (vt <= -1) return -1;
+
+			if (vt == 0) 
+				rtx->gbl.ignorecase = ((l > 0)? 1: (l < 0)? -1: 0);
+			else 
+				rtx->gbl.ignorecase = ((r > 0.0)? 1: (r < 0.0)? -1: 0);
 			break;
 		}
 
@@ -512,12 +520,12 @@ static int set_global (
 			int n;
 			qse_awk_int_t lv;
 
-			n = qse_awk_rtx_valtoint (rtx, val, &lv);
+			n = qse_awk_rtx_valtoint(rtx, val, &lv);
 			if (n <= -1) return -1;
 
 			if (lv < (qse_awk_int_t)rtx->inrec.nflds)
 			{
-				if (shorten_record (rtx, (qse_size_t)lv) == -1)
+				if (shorten_record(rtx, (qse_size_t)lv) == -1)
 				{
 					/* adjust the error line */
 					/*if (var) ADJERR_LOC (rtx, &var->loc);*/
@@ -534,7 +542,7 @@ static int set_global (
 			int n;
 			qse_awk_int_t lv;
 
-			n = qse_awk_rtx_valtoint (rtx, val, &lv);
+			n = qse_awk_rtx_valtoint(rtx, val, &lv);
 			if (n <= -1) return -1;
 
 			rtx->gbl.nr = lv;
@@ -547,7 +555,7 @@ static int set_global (
 			qse_awk_rtx_valtostr_out_t out;
 
 			out.type = QSE_AWK_RTX_VALTOSTR_CPLDUP;
-			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr (rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
+			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr(rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
 
 			for (i = 0; i < out.u.cpldup.len; i++)
 			{
@@ -572,7 +580,7 @@ static int set_global (
 			qse_awk_rtx_valtostr_out_t out;
 
 			out.type = QSE_AWK_RTX_VALTOSTR_CPLDUP;
-			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr (rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
+			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr(rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
 
 			if (rtx->gbl.ofs.ptr != QSE_NULL)
 				QSE_AWK_FREE (rtx->awk, rtx->gbl.ofs.ptr);
@@ -587,7 +595,7 @@ static int set_global (
 			qse_awk_rtx_valtostr_out_t out;
 
 			out.type = QSE_AWK_RTX_VALTOSTR_CPLDUP;
-			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr (rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
+			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr(rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
 
 			if (rtx->gbl.ors.ptr != QSE_NULL)
 				QSE_AWK_FREE (rtx->awk, rtx->gbl.ors.ptr);
@@ -615,7 +623,7 @@ static int set_global (
 				QSE_ASSERT (vtype != QSE_AWK_VAL_REX);
 
 				out.type = QSE_AWK_RTX_VALTOSTR_CPLDUP;
-				if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr (rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
+				if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr(rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
 
 				rss = out.u.cpldup;
 			}
@@ -633,7 +641,7 @@ static int set_global (
 				qse_awk_errnum_t errnum;
 				
 				/* compile the regular expression */
-				if (qse_awk_buildrex (rtx->awk, rss.ptr, rss.len, &errnum, &rex, &irex) <= -1)
+				if (qse_awk_buildrex(rtx->awk, rss.ptr, rss.len, &errnum, &rex, &irex) <= -1)
 				{
 					SETERR_COD (rtx, errnum);
 					if (vtype != QSE_AWK_VAL_STR) QSE_AWK_FREE (rtx->awk, rss.ptr);
@@ -654,7 +662,7 @@ static int set_global (
 			qse_awk_rtx_valtostr_out_t out;
 
 			out.type = QSE_AWK_RTX_VALTOSTR_CPLDUP;
-			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr (rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
+			if (qse_awk_rtx_valtostr(rtx, val, &out) <= -1) return -1;
 
 			if (rtx->gbl.subsep.ptr)
 				QSE_AWK_FREE (rtx->awk, rtx->gbl.subsep.ptr);
@@ -663,6 +671,22 @@ static int set_global (
 
 			break;
 		}
+
+		case QSE_AWK_GBL_STRIPRECSPC:
+		{
+			qse_awk_int_t l;
+			qse_awk_flt_t r;
+			int vt;
+
+			vt = qse_awk_rtx_valtonum(rtx, val, &l, &r);
+			if (vt <= -1) return -1;
+
+			if (vt == 0) 
+				rtx->gbl.striprecspc = ((l > 0)? 1: (l < 0)? -1: 0);
+			else 
+				rtx->gbl.striprecspc = ((r > 0.0)? 1: (r < 0.0)? -1: 0);
+			break;
+		}
 	}
 
 	qse_awk_rtx_refdownval (rtx, old);
@@ -1026,6 +1050,7 @@ static int init_rtx (qse_awk_rtx_t* rtx, qse_awk_t* awk, qse_awk_rio_t* rio)
 	rtx->gbl.fs[0] = QSE_NULL;
 	rtx->gbl.fs[1] = QSE_NULL;
 	rtx->gbl.ignorecase = 0;
+	rtx->gbl.striprecspc = -1;
 
 	return 0;