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From: cbrandau@isis.cs.du.edu (carl brandauer)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: What's set -n for ?
Message-ID: <1990Oct19.154246.10555@isis.cs.du.edu>
Date: 19 Oct 90 15:42:46 GMT
References: <23880001@hpopd.HP.COM>
Reply-To: cbrandau@isis.UUCP (carl brandauer)
Organization: Math/CS, University of Denver
Lines: 13

In article <23880001@hpopd.HP.COM> ian@hpopd.HP.COM (Ian Watson) writes:
>What's the point of the -n option for the 'set' command of sh ?
>
>	-n	Reads commands but does not execute them
>
>If you have set it, how would you ever unset it ?

When writing shell scripts, 'set -n' is useful for detecting syntax
errors without risking the dangers that might occur if every command were
executed.

If you set -n on the command line, logging off is the only way to unset
it.