Strangeness in shell

[Pete Holsberg]

In article <TALE.89Jul22220358 at imagine.pawl.rpi.edu> tale at pawl.rpi.edu writes:
=Here are some more examples to clear it up a little:
=$ x=*      # x is set to a list of non-dotfiles in the current directory.
=$ x='*'    # x is set to just *
=$ x="*"    # x is still set to just *


Dave has hit it on the nose.  An assignment such as x="*" does NOT
assign "*" to z; it assigns * to x.  When the value of x is retrieved,
the shell sees the metacharacter * and expands it to all non-hidden
filenames in the current directory.  

Thanks to Dave and the kind folks who responded by email.
-- 
Pete Holsberg -- Mercer College -- Trenton, NJ 08690
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