Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!lml
From: lml@cbnews.ATT.COM (L. Mark Larsen)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Positional Parameter Settin in function
Message-ID: <7191@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 6 Jun 89 22:05:50 GMT
References: <570024@hpsemc.HP.COM>
Reply-To: lml@cbnews.ATT.COM (L. Mark Larsen)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 22

# In article <570024@hpsemc.HP.COM> gph@hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz) writes:
#
# In my ksh, the "set" command doesn't seem to work within a function:
# 
It works in a function - it just sets the positional parameters for
*that* function - not the current shell.

# As a shell command  I do the following:
(example deleted)
# 
# Is this a bug in ksh?  Is it a feature?   Is there some explanation of this
# feature?

This is not a bug but the way functions are supposed to work.  To modify
the positional parameters of the current shell by executing some shell
script, use ". filename [args]" (reads the file and executes it in the
current environment).  Note that Bourne shell does not allow arguments
and that in ksh, passing arguments in this manner is the same as setting
the positional parameters of the current shell.

cheers,
-lml