rc variables are lists, and $#var evalulates to the length of the list... you can use that to make counters by concatenating elements to a list:
term% a=() while(! ~ $#a 13){echo $#a $a; a=(1 $a);}
0
1 1
2 1 1
3 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 1
5 1 1 1 1 1
6 1 1 1 1 1 1
7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
8 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
--
cinap
