Shell parameter bugs?

[Michael Morrell]

/ hpsal2:comp.unix.questions / kk at richp1.UUCP (Ken Konecki) /  9:01 am  Mar 15, 1988 /

I've found an interesting problem with the korn and bourne shells
when it comes to dealing with command line parameters.
When this script:

	echo "Number of parameters: ${#}"
	for arg in $*
	do
		echo "Argument is $arg"
	done

with the line

	script '1 2 3' 4 5 6

the shell(s) output this:

	Number of parameters: 4
	Argument is 1
	Argument is 2
	Argument is 3
	Argument is 4
	Argument is 5
	Argument is 6
------
The second line of your script should be:

   for arg in "$@"

Otherwise, the shell is reexpanding the arguments, stripping off the
quotes.