Re: Bug in echo when trying to print "******************************************************************************************"

[Eric Blake]

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Please keep replies on the list, so that others may benefit from the answers.

According to Robert Thompson on 6/26/2007 10:27 AM:
> That said, it seems like you aren't pasting the exact command you
> actually
> tried.  echo "*" echoes a single asterisk, "echo *" is a glob character,
> interpreted by your shell as all files in the current directory,
> passed as
> multiple arguments to echo, each of which are then echoed, giving the
> output you demonstrated.  This is not a bug in echo, but probably a
> misunderstanding on your part about shell quoting rules.
> 
>>

> Thanks. Can you suggest a reference to shell quoting rules?  --  Bob T.

You can start out with the shell itself - 'man bash' tries to do a good
job.  Or you could refer directly to POSIX,
http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/utilities/xcu_chap02.html#tag_02_02.
 But both of these options are a bit harsh if you are learning shell for
the first time.

A friendlier option is a good reference manual, such as O'Reilly's:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/bash3.  There is also plenty to be learned
from google.

- --
Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well!

Eric Blake             address@hidden
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