Getting at the first char of a string in Bourne shell

[Pim Zandbergen]

How about 

string=`echo $string | cut -c1`

I don't think the Bourne shell can do this without executing
an external command.

In Korn shell you can use a hack like

string=${string%${string#?}}
-- 
Pim Zandbergen                          domain : pim at cti-software.nl
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