Re: Question on differences on quoted $* (Was: Re: Question on $@ vs $@$@)

[Steffen Nurpmeso]

Emanuele Torre wrote in
 <ZskqVqdZSXMHns1k@ntoo>:
 |On Sat, Aug 24, 2024 at 02:15:48AM +0200, Steffen Nurpmeso wrote:
 |> Sorry but i really have to come again, i do not understand what is
 |> going on, and *i* think shell is at fault.
 |
 |No. It is working correctly.
 |
 |> This:
 |> 
 |>   a() {
 |>     echo $#,1=$1,2=$2,"$*",$*,
 |
 |This $1 is unquoted, it will be split. You need to use "$1" if you don't
 |want it to split.

Ah.  Of course.  Stupid me.
Yes, splitting was not yet done at all except for unquoted $*,
when i set that free i am en par.  Yay.  (Though i have three
dozens of tests which now fail, and have to be adjusted
accordingly.)

  ...
 |>    a:b:ca b c a b c
 |>   -6,1=a b ca,2=b,a:b:ca:b:c:a:b:c,a b ca b c a b c,
 |>   +6,1=a:b:ca,2=b,a:b:ca:b:c:a:b:c,a b ca b c a b c,
 |> 
 |> Why does bash, when preparing the first argument to the function
 |> a(), ie, when word-splitting "$*", not generate "a:b:c" as it very
 |> well does when it creates the output for echo(1)?
 |> Where is the difference in between the '"$*"$* $*' of the one
 |> argument, and the '"$*"$* $*' of the other?
 |
 |Even though you are passing "a:b:ca" as $1, you are running  echo $1  to
 |print it while IFS is still set to ":" so $1 will be split to "a" "b"
 |"ca".

Thanks again.

  ...
 |o/

 | emanuele6
 --End of <ZskqVqdZSXMHns1k@ntoo>

Robert Elz wrote in
 <26236.1724475172@jacaranda.noi.kre.to>:
 |    Date:        Sat, 24 Aug 2024 02:33:26 +0200
 |    From:        Emanuele Torre <torreemanuele6@gmail.com>
 |    Message-ID:  <ZskqVqdZSXMHns1k@ntoo>
 |
 || No. It is working correctly.
 |
 |It is indeed.
 |
 || This $1 is unquoted, it will be split. You need to use "$1" if you don't
 || want it to split.
 |
 |Alternatively, make a() be
 |
 | a()
 | {
 |  local IFS=
 |  echo $#,1=$1,2=$2,"$*",$*,
 |}
 |
 |then you'll get to see what the actual args are, as no splitting
 |will happen.  Of course, the expansion of "$*" will be different
 |in this case (but the the unquoted version only by not having
 |word splitting performed on the fields it produces).

No no, the function is exactly as it should be; .. i will however
add additional quoted forms of "$1" etc to the output.

 |You could also see what happened in the original case if you ran
 |the test with -x set (this segment from the final input line):
 |
 |+ IFS=:
 |+ echo a:b:ca b c a b c
 |a:b:ca b c a b c
 |+ a a:b:ca b c a b c
 |+ echo 6,1=a b ca,2=b,a:b:ca:b:c:a:b:c,a b ca b c a b c,
 |6,1=a b ca,2=b,a:b:ca:b:c:a:b:c,a b ca b c a b c,
 |+ unset IFS
 |
 |You can see there that the args passed to 'a' and the args passed
 |to the first "echo" (outside 'a') are identical.

That is a really good idea indeed, to be remembered.
 |
 |kre
 --End of <26236.1724475172@jacaranda.noi.kre.to>

--steffen
|
|Der Kragenbaer,                The moon bear,
|der holt sich munter           he cheerfully and one by one
|einen nach dem anderen runter  wa.ks himself off
|(By Robert Gernhardt)