Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!apple!oliveb!mipos3!omepd!merlyn
From: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: csh problem involving nested ifs?
Summary: /bin/sh please
Keywords: just a minor flame...
Message-ID: <4660@omepd.UUCP>
Date: 17 Jul 89 13:42:03 GMT
References: <20243@adm.BRL.MIL> <5016@ficc.uu.net> <3171@quick.COM>
Sender: news@omepd.UUCP
Reply-To: merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz)
Followup-To: /dev/null
Organization: Stonehenge; netaccess via Intel, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
Lines: 39
In-reply-to: srg@quick.COM (Spencer Garrett)

In article <3171@quick.COM>, srg@quick (Spencer Garrett) writes:
| In article <5016@ficc.uu.net>, peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
| 
| -> generate_a_list_of_file_names |
| ->   while read FNAME
| ->   do
| ->     do_something_with FNAME
| ->   done
| -> 
| -> is second nature. And it's impossible in csh without massive inconvenience.
| -> By comparison, having TEST and EXPR builtin is a minor optimisation.
| 
| What are you talking about?  It's easy and much more natural under csh.
| 
| foreach fname (`generate_a_list_of_file_names`)
| 	do_something_with_fname
| end

Unless (and there are far far far too many "unless"-es with CSH...)

generate_list_of_file_names returns more than 5120 characters, *or*
the resulting list can't be globbed properly (I just got bit on
/bin/*... try it... it bites the big one on "/bin/[") *or* some other
combination of events that I'll probably run across tomorrow...
Gaaaaccckkk!

Gimme /bin/sh any day.  True parsing.  No nonsense.

Of course, as soon as /bin/ksh becomes *the* standard, I'll like it
much better.  Until then, I'm stuck with csh for my top level shell
because of command history and job control, but all my scripts (well,
non-Perl scripts :-) are /bin/sh.

Just an old-time UNIX hacker,
-- 
/== Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ====\
| on contract to Intel, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA                           |
| merlyn@iwarp.intel.com ...!uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn	         |
\== Cute Quote: "Welcome to Oregon... Home of the California Raisins!" ==/