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From: jerryp@tektools.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Mysterious error message: scenario please
Message-ID: <1903@tektools.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 22-Nov-86 09:02:13 EST
Article-I.D.: tektools.1903
Posted: Sat Nov 22 09:02:13 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Nov-86 04:17:45 EST
References: <1369@umd5>
Reply-To: jerryp@tektools.TEK.COM (Jerry Peek)
Followup-To: comp.unix.questions
Distribution: net
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR.
Lines: 25
Keywords: system(), identifier
Xref: watmath comp.unix.questions:150 comp.unix.wizards:148

In article <1369@umd5> don@umd5 (Chris Sylvain) writes:
> []
> I'd like to know just what could possibly be causing the following error
> message in response to a call to system() with a string that if typed
> by hand to a shell works just fine -- "00: is not an identifier".

[I've redirected followups to comp.unix.questions only.]

I haven't checked into *why* your message is happening, but I can reproduce
it.  If your environment is trashed (has an environment variable with a bad
name), you can get the message.  Here's an example from 4.3BSD... the Bourne
shell never starts:

	Script started on Sat Nov 22 05:49:49 1986
	$ /bin/csh -f
	% setenv "FOO bar" trash
	% sh
	FOO bar=trash: is not an identifier
	%

--Jerry Peek, Tektronix, Inc.
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