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From: jwp@sdchem.UUCP (John Pierce)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: More C-shell weirdness [Another word count problem]
Message-ID: <176@sdchema.sdchem.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Apr-86 02:51:49 EST
Article-I.D.: sdchema.176
Posted: Thu Apr  3 02:51:49 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Apr-86 11:16:56 EST
References: <684@nbires.UUCP>
Reply-To: jwp@sdchem.UUCP (John Pierce)
Distribution: net
Organization: Chemistry Dept, UC San Diego
Lines: 23

In article <684@nbires.UUCP> nose@nbires.UUCP (Steve Dunn) writes:

	> set a = ''
	> set a = ($a '')	 set a = ('' '')
	> echo $#a		 echo $#a
	> 
	> Yields 1		 Yields 2

and asks for an explanation....  In the first case $a is expanded to a null
string before the assignment is done, and, therefore, isn't seen as a string
at the time the assignment is made; there is no such thing as an unquoted
null string (this is implied, though not stated explicitly in exactly those
words by csh(1), page 1, "Lexical Structure").  Note that

	set a = ''
	set a = ( "$a" '' )
	echo $#a

yields 2 since the null string that is $a is quoted and is, therefore, a word.

				John Pierce, Chemistry, UC San Diego
				jwp%chem@ucsd.edu
				sdcsvax!sdchem!jwp