> On 2/17/12 8:25 AM, Pierre Gaston wrote:
> > This is probably because bash lacks an easy way to pass an array by
> > reference to a function.
>
> This is where a requested feature could make it into bash. This seems to
> be a common problem with no clean solution (one can only get so far with
> eval and ${!param}).
>
> The ksh93 `nameref' (typeset -n) feature would solve this. It's not really
> well documented, and there are many corner cases to catch, but it's not
> that hard to implement. One example: is it a symlink, where it's resolved
> at reference time, or a pointer, where the reference is assigned at initial
> declaration? Another set of cases involve the scoping questions if the
> first alternative is chosen.
The next version of bash will have nameref variables and associated support
(declare/local -n, unset -n, slight changes to ${!var}, and so on).
The devel git tree has all of the changes. If you're interested, check it
out and send me feedback.
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/
