I just stumbled across a discrepancy when quoting empty variables.
set -- ""; print $# # prints 1
unset x; set -- "$x"; print $# # prints 1
But:
unset x; set -- "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; print $# # prints 0
typeset x; set -- "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; print $# # prints 0
I find this a little confusing. I always thought that any expression in
double quotes which evaluates to nothing counts as one word.
Interestingly, bash exhibits a similar, though slightly more
inconsistent behavior:
unset a; set -- "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; echo $# # prints 0
typeset a; set -- "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; echo $# # prints 1
I asked for that on the bash list and got an answer from Chet Ramey:
... Bash
has traditionally treated `typeset a' as equivalent to `typeset a=""'
instead of creating a `placeholder' variable that exists in a sort of
limbo. That's different from things like `export a' or `readonly a',
and probably inconsistent enough to be worth changing for bash-4.0.
How is the situation in ksh? Is this behavior intended or will it also
change some day?
Regards,
Bernd
--
Bernd Eggink
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://sudrala.de
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