Clint Adams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I observe that
>
> a) POSIX specifies the behavior of 'export' and 'readonly'
> b) Implementation of 'local' is often very similar to 'export' and 'readonly'
> and in the absence of a standardized 'local', it makes sense to
> specify a similar form.
> c) 'export' and 'readonly' both take multiple variables as arguments,
> assignments, and the -p switch for printing
> d) the Bourne-type shells in Debian support multiple arguments to 'local'
> e) the Bourne-type shells in Debian (except for posh) support variable
> assignments with 'local'
> f) some of the Bourne-type shells in Debian produce output (which is not
> necessarily useful) in response to 'local -p', and some produce an
> error
> g) bash disallows use of 'local' outside of a shell function
>
> I suggest that Policy be amended to require that
>
> local a b c=delta e
>
> scope variables a, b, c, and e as local, and assign the
> string "delta" to the local c.
Here is a proposed patch that implements Clint's suggestion. Seconds?
diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index c9bd84f..2bc0d93 100644
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -7040,18 +7040,19 @@ strip --strip-unneeded <var>your-lib</var>
support <tt>-a</tt> and <tt>-o</tt> as binary logical
operators.</item>
<item><tt>local</tt> to create a scoped variable must be
- supported; however, <tt>local</tt> may or may not preserve
- the variable value from an outer scope and may or may not
- support arguments more complex than simple variables. Only
- uses such as:
+ supported, including listing multiple variables in a single
+ local command and assigning a value to a variable at the
+ same time as localizing it. <tt>local</tt> may or
+ may not preserve the variable value from an outer scope if
+ no assignment is present. Uses such as:
<example compact>
fname () {
- local a
- a=''
- # ... use a ...
+ local a b c=delta d
+ # ... use a, b, c, d ...
}
</example>
- must be supported.
+ must be supported and must set the value of <tt>c</tt> to
+ <tt>delta</tt>.
</item>
</list>
If a shell script requires non-SUSv3 features from the shell
--
Russ Allbery ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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