Hello Dale, This is really interesting. Should the 'local' command be the one able to detect that the assignment to the variable had an non-zero exit code and return the non-zero exit code?
as a developer, it is counter-intuitive that the 'local' command tells us everything is ok when it wasn't. If feel it should know that the assignment encountered a problem and should report it The return status is zero unless local is used outside a function, an invalid name is supplied, or name is a readonly variable. On Fri, 29 May 2020 at 03:43, Dale R. Worley <wor...@alum.mit.edu> wrote: > It's a subtle point. See this paragraph in the bash manual page: > > If there is a command name left after expansion, execution > proceeds as described below. Otherwise, the command exits. If > one of the expansions contained a command substitution, the exit > status of the command is the exit status of the last command > substitution performed. If there were no command substitutions, > the command exits with a status of zero. > > In one of your examples, a "local" command is generated using a command > substitution, so the exit status is that of the local command. In the > other, only an assignment is done, which is not a command, so the exit > status is that of the last command substitution. > > Dale > -- -- Laurent Picquet 16, Hunters Chase South Godstone RH98HR England tel: 07882 356 104
