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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ihdev!pdg
From: pdg@ihdev.UUCP (P. D. Guthrie)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: Help! Csh is eating my brain....
Message-ID: <362@ihdev.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Oct-85 12:34:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihdev.362
Posted: Fri Oct 18 12:34:07 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 23-Oct-85 03:56:08 EDT
References: <366@zaphod.UUCP>
Reply-To: pdg@ihdev.UUCP (55224-P. D. Guthrie)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 22

In article <366@zaphod.UUCP> flory@zaphod.UUCP (Trevor Flory) writes:
>Hello All;
>	I'm trying to debug a csh script written by someone who
>	knew what he was doing I'm sure.  Below is a fragment of
>	the script which I find rather difficult to understand:
>		...
>		alias readandset 'echo -n \!:1 ; set \!:2 = $< ' 
>		...
>		readandset "Choice? " chvar
>		...
>		if("$chvar" == "quit") ....
>
>	In particular I'd like to know what \!:1 or \!:2 means/does.
>

This notation simply replaces itself with the corresponding arguments in
the original line, so it echos the first argument, and sets  the  second
one to a line from stdin.  Why doesn't ksh have something like  this?  I
hate having to use fc and mess around with its output - and that's soooo
inefficient! 

					Paul Guthrie