> The existing documentation seems pretty clear: > ... > The value of a variable is evaluated as an arithmetic expression when > it is referenced, or when a variable which has been given the integer > attribute using declare -i is assigned a value. A null value evaluates > to 0. A shell variable need not have its integer attribute turned on > to be used in an expression.
Hi Chet, I've reread that paragraph a number of times. It could be improved to help the end-user. After the sentence: "The value of a variable is evaluated as an arithmetic expression when it is referenced, ..." Add the sentence: This evaluation of the variables value will be performed recursively until an arithmetic evaluation is found or the expression recursion level exceeded. For example: unset a; declare a="a"; [[ a -lt 3 ]]; echo $? bash: [[: a: expression recursion level exceeded (error token is "a") 1 Shouldn't the return code from this expression be 2, rather than 1? Thank you. Peg
