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From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: Finding the last arg
Keywords: Bourne shell arguments
Message-ID: <2773@sixhub.UUCP>
Date: 31 Dec 90 04:16:07 GMT
References: <18476@shlump.nac.dec.com> <1990Dec27.154917.14751@virtech.uucp>
Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY
Lines: 20

In article <1990Dec27.154917.14751@virtech.uucp> cpcahil@virtech.UUCP (Conor P. Cahill) writes:
| In article <18476@shlump.nac.dec.com> lan_csse@netrix.nac.dec.com (CSSE LAN Test Account) writes:
| >The obvious thing to try is some sort of expression combining $# with ${},
| >e.g. ${$#}.  This gets a syntax error.  The simpler $$# is valid, but it
| 
| Try:
| 	eval \$$#

  With sh there is no valid way to do this, it breaks when $# > 9. With
ksh the followinf is true:
  eval echo $# \$##		# uses only one digit of $#
  eval echo $# \${$#}		# works for all values

  Hope that clarifies it. I treid several shells, all flavors of sh seem
to stop at $#>9 and need evaluation via shift.
-- 
bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen)
    sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
    moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me