This is just a nit but I've never understood the meaning/usage of the $_ variable in bash. I did RTFM and it says:
"When bash invokes an external command, the variable $_ is set to the full file name of the command and passed to that command in its environment." ...which seems to describe one piece of how it actually works in one situation. For example, if I create and execute a shell script thus: echo '#!/bin/bash' > /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'date' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo ':' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo Hi,Mom' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'set > /dev/null' >> /tmp/wtf.sh echo 'echo _ is $_' >> /tmp/wtf.sh chmod +x /tmp/wtf.sh /tmp/wtf.sh ...I see this: _ is /tmp/wtf.sh Wed Jul 23 12:53:08 EDT 2008 _ is date _ is : _ is : _ is set Hi,Mom _ is Hi,Mom ...where the first line of output seems to show it working as described but subsequent values seem to instead show the last command executed, builtin or external. But not consistently - why doesn't it ever take on the value of "echo" but it does take on the values of "set" and the ":" no-op...? And it takes on the value of "Hi,Mom" which is a parameter rather than a command. (?) It seems to be just as weird when used interactively so I'm wondering if this is a simple case of b0rken design/implementation or if there's some method to the madness that'll help me understand its behavior/purpose. _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
