[ILUG] alias

[kevin lyda]

On Thu, Mar 14, 2002 at 11:25:51AM +0000, Philip Reynolds wrote:
> You can use function in bash and zsh (haven't used it in any other
> shells).

what i'm describing applies to sh, not sure of zsh.

> Defining this:
> 
> $ function blah {
> echo Hallo $* there
> }

i keep a copy of 'unix power tools' in the bathroom for something to leaf
through while 'thinking.'  (i'm sure there's a better way to describe
that)  anyway it was describing the merits of $@ vs. $*.  i've always
used $*, but $@ seems better.  not sure how it works exactly though.
here's my toy script:

    #!/bin/sh

    echo using '$*'
    echo "$*"
    for f in "$*"; do
	echo $f
    done

    echo using '$@'
    echo "$@"
    for f in "$@"; do
	echo $f
    done

run it like so:

    ./foo.sh moo cow
    ./foo.sh "moo  cow"

according to the sh man page:

    *   Expands to the positional parameters, starting from
	one.   When  the  expansion  occurs  within  double
	quotes,  it expands to a single word with the value
	of each parameter separated by the first  character
	of  the  IFS  special variable.  That is, ``$*'' is
	equivalent to ``$1c$2c...'', where c is  the  first
	character of the value of the IFS variable.  If IFS
	is null or unset, the parameters are  separated  by
	spaces.
    @   Expands to the positional parameters, starting from
	one.   When  the  expansion  occurs  within  double
	quotes,  each parameter expands as a separate word.
	That is, `` $@'' is equivalent to ``$1'' ``$2'' ...
	When there are no positional parameters, ``$@'' and
	$@ expand to nothing (i.e., they are removed).

any shell scripting gurus have comments on this?  i've been kind of
curious since i read it.

kevin

-- 
kevin at suberic.net          buffy: come on, can't you put your foot down?!
fork()'ed on 37058400      giles: it *is* down.
meatspace place: orbit     buffy: one of these days you're going to have to
http://suberic.net/~kevin         get a grown up car.  --inca mummy girl