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From: trent@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Ray Trent)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: eval bug
Message-ID: <2281@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: Thu, 9-Apr-87 04:42:44 EST
Article-I.D.: cit-vax.2281
Posted: Thu Apr  9 04:42:44 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 13-Apr-87 05:38:39 EST
Reply-To: trent@cit-vax.UUCP (Ray Trent)
Distribution: world
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Lines: 39
Xref: mnetor comp.unix.questions:1873 comp.unix.wizards:1886

I've noticed a rather strange behavior in BSD 4.2-3 systems' eval command.
If you put the following into a file called eval.bug:

  set noglob;
  setenv FOO '*';
  unset noglob;

and then execute the command: 

  eval `cat eval.bug` 

repeatedly, the command works *every other* time. When it fails, it
gives the message "setenv: Too many arguments" because it expands the
'*'. The commands:

  eval <eval.bug
and: 
  eval set noglob; setenv FOO '*'; unset noglob;

work just fine. The strange behavior happens because, every other
time, the command bombs out before eval'ing "unset noglob;", thus leaving
noglob set *before* every other iteration.

Bleah, that was a horrible description, let me try another tack: the
command works fine every time if you set noglob before executing it.

Is this a bug in the way `<cmd>` works, or is it a known "feature"? 

It's particularly annoying because it's sometimes convenient to do:

  setenv TERMCAP `tset -SQ vt100`

and, as we all know, the vt100 termcap entry has lots of nasty little
"["s floating around in it.
  
-- 
<this space for rent>
					../ray\..
 (trent@csvax.caltech.edu, rat@caltech.bitnet, ...seismo!cit-vax!trent)