RE: [Axiom-developer] Testing build-improvements

[Page, Bill]

On Wednesday, November 22, 2006 12:50 PM Gaby wrote:

> | > !              chunk=$arg

Why does this fail? What is the value of $chunk?

> | > ...
> | > !              chunk=`echo -n $arg`
> |

Is this one missing quotes or does it not matter?

> Bill Page wrote:
> | What shell actually requires such an awkward construction?
> | Of if you wish why not write:
> | 
> |               chunk="$arg"
> | 
> | or even better :-)
> 
> the trouble with this is that is does not work -- I spent a
> considerable amount of time on this quote micmac. :-(

Does not work is too vague.

Why does it fail? What is the result value of $chunk?

> 
> | 
> |               chunk=`echo -n "$arg"`
> 
> this one is one needed.
>

That is not what you wrote originally in your patchlet.
 
> | 
> | But I think "quotes" are only needed on argments to external
> | commands like 'test', not on variable assignments or echo.
> 
> Well, my shell (Zsh) is unhappy with the form chunk="$arg", when
> chunk is used later with -R.
> 

That's very odd. $chunk is just a variable. To use it with -R
as a parameter to notangle I would recommend the following quotes:

  notangle "-R$chunk"

because notangle is an external command.

All of these forms behave identically in my tests using bash
provided that all parameters to external commands are properly
quoted.

Perhaps "3.1: Why does `$var' where `var="foo bar"' not do what
I expect?" in

 http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/zsh

might help?

I fear you are heading for "quote hell" if you do not have the
exact semantics of the shell for which you are designing the
scripts.

Regards,
Bill Page.