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From: chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: More C-shell weirdness [Another word count problem]
Message-ID: <690@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Apr-86 21:34:19 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.690
Posted: Thu Apr  3 21:34:19 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Apr-86 01:22:35 EST
References: <684@nbires.UUCP>
Reply-To: chris@maryland.UUCP (Chris Torek)
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 41
Keywords: quoting

In article <684@nbires.UUCP> nose@nbires.UUCP writes:
>set a = ''
>set a = ($a '')
>echo $#a
>
>Yields 1
>
>set a = ('' '')
>echo $#a
>
>Yields 2

It is all a matter of quoting:

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

gives `2'.  Your first example gives `1' because the C shell
does history substitution (none), then variable expansion---now
the command is

	set a = ( '')

---then alias expansion (none), and finally executes it.  With
the double quotes, variable expansion yeilds

	set a = ("" '')

which is of course two words.

It is often important to quote variables being expanded.  For
instance:

	set a = '*'
	set a = ($a)
	echo $a

prints the same thing as `echo *'.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 1415)
UUCP:	seismo!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet:	chris@umcp-cs		ARPA:	chris@mimsy.umd.edu