Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!cmcl2!brl-adm!brl-smoke!gwyn From: gwyn@brl-smoke.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: shell globbing universal ????? Message-ID: <6793@brl-smoke.ARPA> Date: Fri, 4-Dec-87 21:00:45 EST Article-I.D.: brl-smok.6793 Posted: Fri Dec 4 21:00:45 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 8-Dec-87 06:27:16 EST References: <14107@oddjob.UChicago.EDU> Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB)) Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD. Lines: 25 In article <14107@oddjob.UChicago.EDU> matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu (Java Man) writes: >o 204% dd if=g* >o 205% set if=g* Both of these, the "dd" utility and the Cshell's brain-damaged "set" syntax, exhibit irregularities. "dd" is one of the few commands that was deliberately designed to have a stupid IBMish syntax rather than fit the general UNIX command model. There was no filename starting "if=g" so the glob failed. "dd" fits the model of a command that insists on doing its own parsing instead of letting the shell take care of it, and it happens to have no builtin globbing. It should have been designed to accept file arguments like dd -i in_file -o out_file which would fit the generally accepted shell interface. The Cshell "set" built-in uses the "=" as a delimiter, so it treated the stuff to the right of the "=" as through it had been preceded by a space under normal argument handling, and was able to glob it. If the Cshell builtin had been designed to be invoked like setvar if g* it would have made more sense. All this shows is that "dd" ought to be fixed and the Cshell should be stamped out..