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From: jsdy@hadron.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.bugs.4bsd
Subject: Re: C-Shell weirdness (count of words in a variable)
Message-ID: <345@hadron.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 29-Mar-86 03:28:59 EST
Article-I.D.: hadron.345
Posted: Sat Mar 29 03:28:59 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 07:16:41 EST
References: <676@nbires.UUCP> <2021@hao.UUCP> <678@nbires.UUCP> <2024@hao.UUCP>
Reply-To: jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao)
Distribution: net
Organization: Hadron, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Lines: 24
Xref: watmath net.unix-wizards:17408 net.bugs.4bsd:2025
Summary: set hosed = ()

In article <2024@hao.UUCP> woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) writes:
>> Sorry, I tried the example that is supposed to yield zero and I got one
>> instead.
>> The answer is that you can't have a variable with 0 words at all.
>> This fact I find counter-intuitive and undocumented

Try set hosed = ().  This is suggested by woods' own earlier posting.
This is the way to get $#hosed == 0.  Anything else (including just
set hosed) sets the variable to one or more words.

>> I still can't figure out where
>> the documentation says that if a variable name in an if test expands to
>> one of -r, -w, -x etc, the shell will interpet the expanded variable name
>> as a command.

See my earlier posting.  What do you expect csh to do with
	if (-e == -b)
???	[;-)]

BTW, why is it that woods@hao's responses keep getting here before
the questions from nbires?   [rhetorical question, mostly.]
-- 

	Joe Yao		hadron!jsdy@seismo.{CSS.GOV,ARPA,UUCP}