On 8/4/10 10:38 AM, Clark J. Wang wrote:
> Function definitions are not simple commands. Actually, func definition
> syntax is listed under the *Compound Commands* section in bash2.05b's man
> page and in bash3+ it's been moved to a separate section.
While technically true, that doesn't enter into the issue. At the time
a word is read, the parser can't tell whether or not it introduces a
simple command or function definition. Posix, for instance, explicitly
notes that alias expansion is performed before examining any grammar rules,
and certainly without performing any lookahead. I probably cribbed the
"simple command" language from Posix, which doesn't allow reserved words,
which introduce compound commands, to be aliased.
Chet
--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU c...@case.edu http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/
