This is zsh.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from ./zsh.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Utilities
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* ZSH: (zsh).                     The Z Shell Manual.
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File: zsh.info,  Node: Filename Generation,  Prev: Filename Expansion,  Up: Expansion

Filename Generation
===================

If a word contains an unquoted instance of one of the characters `*',
`(', `|', `<', `[', or `?', it is regarded as a pattern for filename
generation, unless the GLOB option is unset.  If the EXTENDED_GLOB
option is set, the `^' and `#' characters also denote a pattern;
otherwise they are not treated specially by the shell.

The word is replaced with a list of sorted filenames that match the
pattern.  If no matching pattern is found, the shell gives an error
message, unless the NULL_GLOB option is set, in which case the word is
deleted; or unless the NOMATCH option is unset, in which case the word
is left unchanged.

In filename generation, the character `/' must be matched explicitly;
also, a `.' must be matched explicitly at the beginning of a pattern or
after a `/', unless the GLOB_DOTS option is set.  No filename
generation pattern matches the files `.' or `..'.  In other instances
of pattern matching, the `/' and `.' are not treated specially.

Glob Operators
--------------

*
     Matches any string, including the null string.

?
     Matches any character.

[...]
     Matches any of the enclosed characters.  Ranges of characters can
     be specified by separating two characters by a `-'.  A `-' or `]'
     may be matched by including it as the first character in the list.
     There are also several named classes of characters, in the form
     `[:NAME:]' with the following meanings:  `[:alnum:]' alphanumeric,
     `[:alpha:]' alphabetic, `[:ascii:]' 7-bit, `[:blank:]' space or
     tab, `[:cntrl:]' control character, `[:digit:]' decimal digit,
     `[:graph:]' printable character except whitespace, `[:lower:]'
     lowercase letter, `[:print:]' printable character, `[:punct:]'
     printable character neither alphanumeric nor whitespace,
     `[:space:]' whitespace character, `[:upper:]' uppercase letter,
     `[:xdigit:]' hexadecimal digit.  These use the macros provided by
     the operating system to test for the given character combinations,
     including any modifications due to local language settings:  see
     man page ctype(3).  Note that the square brackets are additional
     to those enclosing the whole set of characters, so to test for a
     single alphanumeric character you need `[[:alnum:]]'.  Named
     character sets can be used alongside other types, e.g.
     `[[:alpha:]0-9]'.

[^...]
[!...]
     Like [...], except that it matches any character which is not in
     the given set.

<[X]-[Y]>
     Matches any number in the range X to Y, inclusive.  Either of the
     numbers may be omitted to make the range open-ended; hence `<->'
     matches any number.  To match individual digits, the [...] form is
     more efficient.

     Be careful when using other wildcards adjacent to patterns of this
     form; for example, <0-9>* will actually match any number
     whatsoever at the start of the string, since the `<0-9>' will
     match the first digit, and the `*' will match any others.  This is
     a trap for the unwary, but is in fact an inevitable consequence of
     the rule that the longest possible match always succeeds.
     Expressions such as `<0-9>[^[:digit:]]*' can be used instead.

(...)
     Matches the enclosed pattern.  This is used for grouping.  If the
     KSH_GLOB option is set, then a `@', `*', `+', `?' or `!'
     immediately preceding the `(' is treated specially, as detailed
     below. The option SH_GLOB prevents bare parentheses from being
     used in this way, though the KSH_GLOB option is still available.

     Note that grouping cannot extend over multiple directories: it is
     an error to have a `/' within a group (this only applies for
     patterns used in filename generation).  There is one exception:  a
     group of the form (PAT/)# appearing as a complete path segment can
     match a sequence of directories.  For example, foo/(a*/)#bar
     matches foo/bar, foo/any/bar, foo/any/anyother/bar, and so on.

X|Y
     Matches either X or Y.  This operator has lower precedence than
     any other.  The `|' character must be within parentheses, to avoid
     interpretation as a pipeline.

^X
     (Requires EXTENDED_GLOB to be set.)  Matches anything except the
     pattern X.  This has a higher precedence than `/', so `^foo/bar'
     will search directories in `.' except `./foo' for a file named
     `bar'.

X~Y
     (Requires EXTENDED_GLOB to be set.)  Match anything that matches
     the pattern X but does not match Y.  This has lower precedence
     than any operator except `|', so `*/*~foo/bar' will search for all
     files in all directories in `.'  and then exclude `foo/bar' if
     there was such a match.  Multiple patterns can be excluded by
     `FOO~BAR~BAZ'.  In the exclusion pattern (Y), `/' and `.' are not
     treated specially the way they usually are in globbing.

X#
     (Requires EXTENDED_GLOB to be set.)  Matches zero or more
     occurrences of the pattern X.  This operator has high precedence;
     `12#' is equivalent to `1(2#)', rather than `(12)#'.  It is an
     error for an unquoted `#' to follow something which cannot be
     repeated; this includes an empty string, a pattern already
     followed by `##', or parentheses when part of a KSH_GLOB pattern
     (for example, `!(FOO)#' is invalid and must be replaced by
     `*(!(FOO))').

X##
     (Requires EXTENDED_GLOB to be set.)  Matches one or more
     occurrences of the pattern X.  This operator has high precedence;
     `12##' is equivalent to `1(2##)', rather than `(12)##'.  No more
     than two active `#' characters may appear together.

ksh-like Glob Operators
-----------------------

If the KSH_GLOB option is set, the effects of parentheses can be
modified by a preceding `@', `*', `+', `?' or `!'.  This character need
not be unquoted to have special effects, but the `(' must be.

@(...)
     Match the pattern in the parentheses.  (Like `(...)'.)

*(...)
     Match any number of occurrences.  (Like `(...)#'.)

+(...)
     Match at least one occurrence.  (Like `(...)##'.)

?(...)
     Match zero or one occurrence.  (Like `(|...)'.)

!(...)
     Match anything but the expression in parentheses.  (Like
     `(^(...))'.)

Precedence
----------

The precedence of the operators given above is (highest) `^', `/', `~',
`|' (lowest); the remaining operators are simply treated from left to
right as part of a string, with `#' and `##' applying to the shortest
possible preceding unit (i.e. a character, `?', `[...]', `<...>', or a
parenthesised expression).  As mentioned above, a `/' used as a
directory separator may not appear inside parentheses, while a `|' must
do so; in patterns used in other contexts than filename generation (for
example, in case statements and tests within `[[...]]'), a `/' is not
special; and `/' is also not special after a `~' appearing outside
parentheses in a filename pattern.

Globbing Flags
--------------

There are various flags which affect any text to their right up to the
end of the enclosing group or to the end of the pattern; they require
the EXTENDED_GLOB option. All take the form (#X) where X may have one
of the following forms:

i
     Case insensitive:  upper or lower case characters in the pattern
     match upper or lower case characters.

l
     Lower case characters in the pattern match upper or lower case
     characters; upper case characters in the pattern still only match
     upper case characters.

I
     Case sensitive:  locally negates the effect of i or l from that
     point on.

b
     Activate backreferences for parenthesised groups in the pattern;
     this does not work in filename generation.  When a pattern with a
     set of active parentheses is matched, the strings matched by the
     groups are stored in the array $match, the indices of the
     beginning of the matched parentheses in the array $mbegin, and the
     indices of the end in the array $mend, with the first element of
     each array corresponding to the first parenthesised group, and so
     on.  These arrays are not otherwise special to the shell.  The
     indices use the same convention as does parameter substitution, so
     that elements of $mend and $mbegin may be used in subscripts; the
     KSH_ARRAYS option is respected.  Sets of globbing flags are not
     considered parenthesised groups; only the first nine active
     parentheses can be referenced.

     For example,

          foo="a string with a message"
          if [[ $foo = (a|an)' '(#b)(*)' '* ]]; then
            print ${foo[$mbegin[1],$mend[1]]}
          fi

     prints `string with a'.  Note that the first parenthesis is before
     the (#b) and does not create a backreference.

     Backreferences work with all forms of pattern matching other than
     filename generation, but note that when performing matches on an
     entire array, such as ${ARRAY#PATTERN}, or a global substitution,
     such as ${PARAM//PAT/REPL}, only the data for the last match
     remains available.  In the case of global replacements this may
     still be useful.  See the example for the m flag below.

     The numbering of backreferences strictly follows the order of the
     opening parentheses from left to right in the pattern string,
     although sets of parentheses may be nested.  There are special
     rules for parentheses followed by `#' or `##'.  Only the last
     match of the parenthesis is remembered: for example, in `[[ abab =
     (#b)([ab])# ]]', only the final `b' is stored in match[1].  Thus
     extra parentheses may be necessary to match the complete segment:
     for example, use `X((ab|cd)#)Y' to match a whole string of either
     `ab' or `cd' between `X' and `Y', using the value of $match[1]
     rather than $match[2].

     If the match fails none of the parameters is altered, so in some
     cases it may be necessary to initialise them beforehand.  If some
     of the backreferences fail to match -- which happens if they are
     in an alternate branch which fails to match, or if they are
     followed by # and matched zero times -- then the matched string is
     set to the empty string, and the start and end indices are set to
     -1.

     Pattern matching with backreferences is slightly slower than
     without.

B
     Deactivate backreferences, negating the effect of the b flag from
     that point on.

m
     Set references to the match data for the entire string matched;
     this is similar to backreferencing and does not work in filename
     generation.  The flag must be in effect at the end of the pattern,
     i.e. not local to a group. The parameters $MATCH,  $MBEGIN and
     $MEND will be set to the string matched and to the indices of the
     beginning and end of the string, respectively.  This is most
     useful in parameter substitutions, as otherwise the string matched
     is obvious.

     For example,

          arr=(veldt jynx grimps waqf zho buck)
          print ${arr//(#m)[aeiou]/${(U)MATCH}}

     forces all the matches (i.e. all vowels) into uppercase, printing
     `vEldt jynx grImps wAqf zhO bUck'.

     Unlike backreferences, there is no speed penalty for using match
     references, other than the extra substitutions required for the
     replacement strings in cases such as the example shown.

M
     Deactivate the m flag, hence no references to match data will be
     created.

aNUM
     Approximate matching: NUM errors are allowed in the string matched
     by the pattern.  The rules for this are described in the next
     subsection.

s, e
     Unlike the other flags, these have only a local effect, and each
     must appear on its own:  `(#s)' and `(#e)' are the only valid
     forms.  The `(#s)' flag succeeds only at the start of the test
     string, and the `(#e)' flag succeeds only at the end of the test
     string; they correspond to `^' and `$' in standard regular
     expressions.  They are useful for matching path segments in
     patterns other than those in filename generation (where path
     segments are in any case treated separately).  For example,
     `*((#s)|/)test((#e)|/)*' matches a path segment `test' in any of
     the following strings: test, test/at/start, at/end/test,
     in/test/middle.

     Another use is in parameter substitution; for example
     `${array/(#s)A*Z(#e)}' will remove only elements of an array which
     match the complete pattern `A*Z'.  There are other ways of
     performing many operations of this type, however the combination
     of the substitution operations `/' and `//' with the `(#s)' and
     `(#e)' flags provides a single simple and memorable method.

     Note that assertions of the form `(^(#s))' also work, i.e. match
     anywhere except at the start of the string, although this actually
     means `anything except a zero-length portion at the start of the
     string'; you need to use `(""~(#s))' to match a zero-length
     portion of the string not at the start.

q
     A `q' and everything up to the closing parenthesis of the globbing
     flags are ignored by the pattern matching code.  This is intended
     to support the use of glob qualifiers, see below.  The result is
     that the pattern `(#b)(*).c(#q.)' can be used both for globbing
     and for matching against a string.  In the former case, the
     `(#q.)' will be treated as a glob qualifier and the `(#b)' will
     not be useful, while in the latter case the `(#b)' is useful for
     backreferences and the `(#q.)' will be ignored.  Note that colon
     modifiers in the glob qualifiers are also not applied in ordinary
     pattern matching.

For example, the test string fooxx can be matched by the pattern
(#i)FOOXX, but not by (#l)FOOXX, (#i)FOO(#I)XX or ((#i)FOOX)X.  The
string (#ia2)readme specifies case-insensitive matching of readme with
up to two errors.

When using the ksh syntax for grouping both KSH_GLOB and EXTENDED_GLOB
must be set and the left parenthesis should be preceded by @.  Note
also that the flags do not affect letters inside [...] groups, in other
words (#i)[a-z] still matches only lowercase letters.  Finally, note
that when examining whole paths case-insensitively every directory must
be searched for all files which match, so that a pattern of the form
(#i)/foo/bar/... is potentially slow.

Approximate Matching
--------------------

When matching approximately, the shell keeps a count of the errors
found, which cannot exceed the number specified in the (#aNUM) flags.
Four types of error are recognised:

1.
     Different characters, as in fooxbar and fooybar.

2.
     Transposition of characters, as in banana and abnana.

3.
     A character missing in the target string, as with the pattern road
     and target string rod.

4.
     An extra character appearing in the target string, as with stove
     and strove.

Thus, the pattern (#a3)abcd matches dcba, with the errors occurring by
using the first rule twice and the second once, grouping the string as
[d][cb][a] and [a][bc][d].

Non-literal parts of the pattern must match exactly, including
characters in character ranges: hence (#a1)???  matches strings of
length four, by applying rule 4 to an empty part of the pattern, but not
strings of length two, since all the ? must match.  Other characters
which must match exactly are initial dots in filenames (unless the
GLOB_DOTS option is set), and all slashes in filenames, so that a/bc is
two errors from ab/c (the slash cannot be transposed with another
character).  Similarly, errors are counted separately for
non-contiguous strings in the pattern, so that (ab|cd)ef is two errors
from aebf.

When using exclusion via the ~ operator, approximate matching is
treated entirely separately for the excluded part and must be activated
separately.  Thus, (#a1)README~READ_ME matches READ.ME but not READ_ME,
as the trailing READ_ME is matched without approximation.  However,
(#a1)README~(#a1)READ_ME does not match any pattern of the form READ?ME
as all such forms are now excluded.

Apart from exclusions, there is only one overall error count; however,
the maximum errors allowed may be altered locally, and this can be
delimited by grouping.  For example, (#a1)cat((#a0)dog)fox allows one
error in total, which may not occur in the dog section, and the pattern
(#a1)cat(#a0)dog(#a1)fox is equivalent.  Note that the point at which
an error is first found is the crucial one for establishing whether to
use approximation; for example, (#a1)abc(#a0)xyz will not match
abcdxyz, because the error occurs at the `x', where approximation is
turned off.

Entire path segments may be matched approximately, so that
`(#a1)/foo/d/is/available/at/the/bar' allows one error in any path
segment.  This is much less efficient than without the (#a1), however,
since every directory in the path must be scanned for a possible
approximate match.  It is best to place the (#a1) after any path
segments which are known to be correct.

Recursive Globbing
------------------

A pathname component of the form `(FOO/)#' matches a path consisting of
zero or more directories matching the pattern FOO.

As a shorthand, `**/' is equivalent to `(*/)#'; note that this
therefore matches files in the current directory as well as
subdirectories.  Thus:

     ls (*/)#bar

or

     ls **/bar

does a recursive directory search for files named `bar' (potentially
including the file `bar' in the current directory).  This form does not
follow symbolic links; the alternative form `***/' does, but is
otherwise identical.  Neither of these can be combined with other forms
of globbing within the same path segment; in that case, the `*'
operators revert to their usual effect.

Glob Qualifiers
---------------

Patterns used for filename generation may end in a list of qualifiers
enclosed in parentheses.  The qualifiers specify which filenames that
otherwise match the given pattern will be inserted in the argument list.

If the option BARE_GLOB_QUAL is set, then a trailing set of parentheses
containing no `|' or `(' characters (or `~' if it is special) is taken
as a set of glob qualifiers.  A glob subexpression that would normally
be taken as glob qualifiers, for example `(^x)', can be forced to be
treated as part of the glob pattern by doubling the parentheses, in
this case producing `((^x))'.

If the option EXTENDED_GLOB is set, a different syntax for glob
qualifiers is available, namely `(#qx)' where x is any of the same glob
qualifiers used in the other format.  The qualifiers must still appear
at the end of the pattern.  However, with this syntax multiple glob
qualifiers may be chained together.  They are treated as a logical AND
of the individual sets of flags.  Also, as the syntax is unambiguous,
the expression will be treated as glob qualifiers just as long any
parentheses contained within it are balanced; appearance of `|', `(' or
`~' does not negate the effect.  Note that qualifiers will be
recognised in this form even if a bare glob qualifier exists at the end
of the pattern, for example `*(#q*)(.)' will recognise executable
regular files if both options are set; however, mixed syntax should
probably be avoided for the sake of clarity.

A qualifier may be any one of the following:

/
     directories

.
     plain files

@
     symbolic links

=
     sockets

p
     named pipes (FIFOs)

*
     executable plain files (0100)

%
     device files (character or block special)

%b
     block special files

%c
     character special files

r
     owner-readable files (0400)

w
     owner-writable files (0200)

x
     owner-executable files (0100)

A
     group-readable files (0040)

I
     group-writable files (0020)

E
     group-executable files (0010)

R
     world-readable files (0004)

W
     world-writable files (0002)

X
     world-executable files (0001)

s
     setuid files (04000)

S
     setgid files (02000)

t
     files with the sticky bit (01000)

fSPEC
     files with access rights matching SPEC. This SPEC may be a octal
     number optionally preceded by a `=', a `+', or a `-'. If none of
     these characters is given, the behavior is the same as for `='.
     The octal number describes the mode bits to be expected, if
     combined with a `=', the value given must match the file-modes
     exactly, with a `+', at least the bits in the given number must be
     set in the file-modes, and with a `-', the bits in the number must
     not be set. Giving a `?' instead of a octal digit anywhere in the
     number ensures that the corresponding bits in the file-modes are
     not checked, this is only useful in combination with `='.

     If the qualifier `f' is followed by any other character anything
     up to the next matching character (`[', `{', and `<' match `]',
     `}', and `>' respectively, any other character matches itself) is
     taken as a list of comma-separated SUB-SPECs. Each SUB-SPEC may be
     either an octal number as described above or a list of any of the
     characters `u', `g', `o', and `a', followed by a `=', a `+', or a
     `-', followed by a list of any of the characters `r', `w', `x',
     `s', and `t', or an octal digit. The first list of characters
     specify which access rights are to be checked. If a `u' is given,
     those for the owner of the file are used, if a `g' is given, those
     of the group are checked, a `o' means to test those of other
     users, and the `a' says to test all three groups. The `=', `+',
     and `-' again says how the modes are to be checked and have the
     same meaning as described for the first form above. The second
     list of characters finally says which access rights are to be
     expected: `r' for read access, `w' for write access, `x' for the
     right to execute the file (or to search a directory), `s' for the
     setuid and setgid bits, and `t' for the sticky bit.

     Thus, `*(f70?)' gives the files for which the owner has read,
     write, and execute permission, and for which other group members
     have no rights, independent of the permissions for other users.
     The pattern `*(f-100)' gives all files for which the owner does
     not have execute permission, and `*(f:gu+w,o-rx:)' gives the files
     for which the owner and the other members of the group have at
     least write permission, and for which other users don't have read
     or execute permission.

eSTRING
     The STRING will be executed as shell code.  The filename will be
     included in the list if and only if the code returns a zero status
     (usually the status of the last command).  The first character
     after the `e' will be used as a separator and anything up to the
     next matching separator will be taken  as the STRING; `[', `{',
     and `<' match `]', `}', and `>', respectively, while any other
     character matches itself. Note that expansions must be quoted in
     the STRING to prevent them from being expanded before globbing is
     done.

     During the execution of STRING the filename currently being tested
     is available in the parameter REPLY; the parameter may be altered
     to a string to be inserted into the list instead of the original
     filename.  In addition, the parameter reply may be set to an array
     or a string, which overrides the value of REPLY.  If set to an
     array, the latter is inserted into the command line word by word.

     For example, suppose a directory contains a single file `lonely'.
     Then the expression `*(e:'reply=(${REPLY}{1,2})':)' will cause the
     words `lonely1 lonely2' to be inserted into the command line.
     Note the quotation marks.

dDEV
     files on the device DEV

l[-|+]CT
     files having a link count less than CT (-), greater than CT (+),
     or equal to CT

U
     files owned by the effective user ID

G
     files owned by the effective group ID

uID
     files owned by user ID ID if it is a number, if not, than the
     character after the `u' will be used as a separator and the string
     between it and the next matching separator (`[', `{', and `<'
     match `]', `}', and `>' respectively, any other character matches
     itself) will be taken as a user name, and the user ID of this user
     will be taken (e.g. `u:foo:' or `u[foo]' for user `foo')

gID
     like uID but with group IDs or names

a[Mwhms][-|+]N
     files accessed exactly N days ago.  Files accessed within the last
     N days are selected using a negative value for N (-N).  Files
     accessed more than N days ago are selected by a positive N value
     (+N).  Optional unit specifiers `M', `w', `h', `m' or `s' (e.g.
     `ah5') cause the check to be performed with months (of 30 days),
     weeks, hours, minutes or seconds instead of days, respectively.
     For instance, `echo *(ah-5)' would echo files accessed within the
     last five hours.

m[Mwhms][-|+]N
     like the file access qualifier, except that it uses the file
     modification time.

c[Mwhms][-|+]N
     like the file access qualifier, except that it uses the file inode
     change time.

L[+|-]N
     files less than N bytes (-), more than N bytes (+), or exactly N
     bytes in length. If this flag is directly followed by a `k' (`K'),
     `m' (`M'), or `p' (`P') (e.g. `Lk-50') the check is performed with
     kilobytes, megabytes, or blocks (of 512 bytes) instead.

^
     negates all qualifiers following it

-
     toggles between making the qualifiers work on symbolic links (the
     default) and the files they point to

M
     sets the MARK_DIRS option for the current pattern

T
     appends a trailing qualifier mark to the filenames, analogous to
     the LIST_TYPES option, for the current pattern (overrides M)

N
     sets the NULL_GLOB option for the current pattern

D
     sets the GLOB_DOTS option for the current pattern

n
     sets the NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT option for the current pattern

oC
     specifies how the names of the files should be sorted. If C is n
     they are sorted by name (the default); if it is L they are sorted
     depending on the size (length) of the files; if l they are sorted
     by the number of links; if a, m, or c they are sorted by the time
     of the last access, modification, or inode change respectively; if
     d, files in subdirectories appear before those in the current
     directory at each level of the search -- this is best combined
     with other criteria, for example `odon' to sort on names for files
     within the same directory.  Note that a, m, and c compare the age
     against the current time, hence the first name in the list is the
     youngest file. Also note that the modifiers ^ and - are used, so
     `*(^-oL)' gives a list of all files sorted by file size in
     descending order, following any symbolic links.

OC
     like `o', but sorts in descending order; i.e. `*(^oc)' is the same
     as `*(Oc)' and `*(^Oc)' is the same as `*(oc)'; `Od' puts files in
     the current directory before those in subdirectories at each level
     of the search.

[BEG[,END]]
     specifies which of the matched filenames should be included in the
     returned list. The syntax is the same as for array subscripts. BEG
     and the optional END may be mathematical expressions. As in
     parameter subscripting they may be negative to make them count
     from the last match backward. E.g.: `*(-OL[1,3])' gives a list of
     the names of the three largest files.

More than one of these lists can be combined, separated by commas. The
whole list matches if at least one of the sublists matches (they are
`or'ed, the qualifiers in the sublists are `and'ed).  Some qualifiers,
however, affect all matches generated, independent of the sublist in
which they are given.  These are the qualifiers `M', `T', `N', `D',
`n', `o', `O' and the subscripts given in brackets (`[...]').

If a `:' appears in a qualifier list, the remainder of the expression in
parenthesis is interpreted as a modifier (see *Note Modifiers:: in
*Note History Expansion::).  Note that each modifier must be introduced
by a separate `:'.  Note also that the result after modification does
not have to be an existing file.  The name of any existing file can be
followed by a modifier of the form `(:..)' even if no actual filename
generation is performed.  Thus:

     ls *(-/)

lists all directories and symbolic links that point to directories, and

     ls *(%W)

lists all world-writable device files in the current directory, and

     ls *(W,X)

lists all files in the current directory that are world-writable or
world-executable, and

     echo /tmp/foo*(u0^@:t)

outputs the basename of all root-owned files beginning with the string
`foo' in /tmp, ignoring symlinks, and

     ls *.*~(lex|parse).[ch](^D^l1)

lists all files having a link count of one whose names contain a dot
(but not those starting with a dot, since GLOB_DOTS is explicitly
switched off) except for lex.c, lex.h, parse.c and parse.h.

     print b*.pro(#q:s/pro/shmo/)(#q.:s/builtin/shmiltin/)

demonstrates how colon modifiers and other qualifiers may be chained
together.  The ordinary qualifier `.' is applied first, then the colon
modifiers in order from left to right.  So if EXTENDED_GLOB is set and
the base pattern matches the regular file builtin.pro, the shell will
print `shmiltin.shmo'.


File: zsh.info,  Node: Parameters,  Next: Options,  Prev: Expansion,  Up: Top

Parameters
**********

Description
===========

A parameter has a name, a value, and a number of attributes.  A name
may be any sequence of alphanumeric characters and underscores, or the
single characters `*', `@', `#', `?', `-', `$', or `!'.  The value may
be a _scalar_ (a string), an integer, an array (indexed numerically),
or an _associative_ array (an unordered set of name-value pairs,
indexed by name).  To declare the type of a parameter, or to assign a
scalar or integer value to a parameter, use the typeset builtin.

The value of a scalar or integer parameter may also be assigned by
writing:

     NAME=VALUE

If the integer attribute, -i, is set for NAME, the VALUE is subject to
arithmetic evaluation.  Furthermore, by replacing `=' with `+=', a
parameter can be added or appended to.  See *Note Array Parameters::
for additional forms of assignment.

To refer to the value of a parameter, write `$NAME' or `${NAME}'.  See
*Note Parameter Expansion:: for complete details.

In the parameter lists that follow, the mark `<S>' indicates that the
parameter is special.  Special parameters cannot have their type
changed or their readonly attribute turned off, and if a special
parameter is unset, then later recreated, the special properties will
be retained.  `<Z>' indicates that the parameter does not exist when
the shell initializes in sh or ksh emulation mode.

* Menu:

* Array Parameters::
* Positional Parameters::
* Local Parameters::
* Parameters Set By The Shell::
* Parameters Used By The Shell::


File: zsh.info,  Node: Array Parameters,  Next: Positional Parameters,  Up: Parameters

Array Parameters
================

To assign an array value, write one of:

     set -A NAME VALUE ...

     NAME=(VALUE ...)

If no parameter NAME exists, an ordinary array parameter is created.
If the parameter NAME exists and is a scalar, it is replaced by a new
array.  Ordinary array parameters may also be explicitly declared with:

     typeset -a NAME

Associative arrays _must_ be declared before assignment, by using:

     typeset -A NAME

When NAME refers to an associative array, the list in an assignment is
interpreted as alternating keys and values:

     set -A NAME KEY VALUE ...

     NAME=(KEY VALUE ...)

Every KEY must have a VALUE in this case.  Note that this assigns to
the entire array, deleting any elements that do not appear in the list.

To create an empty array (including associative arrays), use one of:

     set -A NAME

     NAME=()

Array Subscripts
----------------

Individual elements of an array may be selected using a subscript.  A
subscript of the form `[EXP]' selects the single element EXP, where EXP
is an arithmetic expression which will be subject to arithmetic
expansion as if it were surrounded by `$((...))'.  The elements are
numbered beginning with 1, unless the KSH_ARRAYS option is set in which
case they are numbered from zero.

Subscripts may be used inside braces used to delimit a parameter name,
thus `${foo[2]}' is equivalent to `$foo[2]'.  If the KSH_ARRAYS option
is set, the braced form is the only one that works, as bracketed
expressions otherwise are not treated as subscripts.

The same subscripting syntax is used for associative arrays, except that
no arithmetic expansion is applied to EXP.  However, the parsing rules
for arithmetic expressions still apply, which affects the way that
certain special characters must be protected from interpretation.  See
_Subscript Parsing_ below for details.

A subscript of the form `[*]' or `[@]' evaluates to all elements of an
array; there is no difference between the two except when they appear
within double quotes.  `"$foo[*]"' evaluates to `"$foo[1] $foo[2]
..."', whereas `"$foo[@]"' evaluates to `"$foo[1]" "$foo[2]" ...'.  For
associative arrays, `[*]' or `[@]' evaluate to all the values (not the
keys, but see _Subscript Flags_ below), in no particular order.  When
an array parameter is referenced as `$NAME' (with no subscript) it
evaluates to `$NAME[*]', unless the KSH_ARRAYS option is set in which
case it evaluates to `${NAME[0]}' (for an associative array, this means
the value of the key `0', which may not exist even if there are values
for other keys).

A subscript of the form `[EXP1,EXP2]' selects all elements in the range
EXP1 to EXP2, inclusive. (Associative arrays are unordered, and so do
not support ranges.) If one of the subscripts evaluates to a negative
number, say -N, then the Nth element from the end of the array is used.
Thus `$foo[-3]' is the third element from the end of the array foo, and
`$foo[1,-1]' is the same as `$foo[*]'.

Subscripting may also be performed on non-array values, in which case
the subscripts specify a substring to be extracted.  For example, if
FOO is set to `foobar', then `echo $FOO[2,5]' prints `ooba'.

Array Element Assignment
------------------------

A subscript may be used on the left side of an assignment like so:

     NAME[EXP]=VALUE

In this form of assignment the element or range specified by EXP is
replaced by the expression on the right side.  An array (but not an
associative array) may be created by assignment to a range or element.
Arrays do not nest, so assigning a parenthesized list of values to an
element or range changes the number of elements in the array, shifting
the other elements to accommodate the new values.  (This is not
supported for associative arrays.)

This syntax also works as an argument to the typeset command:

     typeset "NAME[EXP]"=VALUE

The VALUE may _not_ be a parenthesized list in this case; only
single-element assignments may be made with typeset.  Note that quotes
are necessary in this case to prevent the brackets from being
interpreted as filename generation operators.  The noglob precommand
modifier could be used instead.

To delete an element of an ordinary array, assign `()' to that element.
To delete an element of an associative array, use the unset command:

     unset "NAME[EXP]"

Subscript Flags
---------------

If the opening bracket, or the comma in a range, in any subscript
expression is directly followed by an opening parenthesis, the string up
to the matching closing one is considered to be a list of flags, as in
`NAME[(FLAGS)EXP]'.  The flags currently understood are:

w
     If the parameter subscripted is a scalar than this flag makes
     subscripting work on words instead of characters.  The default word
     separator is whitespace.

s:STRING:
     This gives the STRING that separates words (for use with the w
     flag).

p
     Recognize the same escape sequences as the print builtin in the
     string argument of a subsequent `s' flag.

f
     If the parameter subscripted is a scalar than this flag makes
     subscripting work on lines instead of characters, i.e. with
     elements separated by newlines.  This is a shorthand for `pws:\n:'.

r
     Reverse subscripting: if this flag is given, the EXP is taken as a
     pattern and the result is the first matching array element,
     substring or word (if the parameter is an array, if it is a
     scalar, or if it is a scalar and the `w' flag is given,
     respectively).  The subscript used is the number of the matching
     element, so that pairs of subscripts such as `$foo[(r)??,3]' and
     `$foo[(r)??,(r)f*]' are possible.  If the parameter is an
     associative array, only the value part of each pair is compared to
     the pattern, and the result is that value.  Reverse subscripts may
     be used for assigning to ordinary array elements, but not for
     assigning to associative arrays.

R
     Like `r', but gives the last match.  For associative arrays, gives
     all possible matches.

i
     Like `r', but gives the index of the match instead; this may not be
     combined with a second argument.  On the left side of an
     assignment, behaves like `r'.  For associative arrays, the key
     part of each pair is compared to the pattern, and the first
     matching key found is the result.

I
     Like `i', but gives the index of the last match, or all possible
     matching keys in an associative array.

k
     If used in a subscript on an associative array, this flag causes
     the keys to be interpreted as patterns, and returns the value for
     the first key found where EXP is matched by the key.  This flag
     does not work on the left side of an assignment to an associative
     array element.  If used on another type of parameter, this behaves
     like `r'.

K
     On an associative array this is like `k' but returns all values
     where EXP is matched by the keys.  On other types of parameters
     this has the same effect as `R'.

n:EXPR:
     If combined with `r', `R', `i' or `I', makes them give the Nth or
     Nth last match (if EXPR evaluates to N).  This flag is ignored
     when the array is associative.

b:EXPR:
     If combined with `r', `R', `i' or `I', makes them begin at the Nth
     or Nth last element, word, or character (if EXPR evaluates to N).
     This flag is ignored when the array is associative.

e
     This flag has no effect and for ordinary arrays is retained for
     backward compatibility only.  For associative arrays, this flag
     can be used to force * or @ to be interpreted as a single key
     rather than as a reference to all values.  This flag may be used
     on the left side of an assignment.

See _Parameter Expansion Flags_ (*Note Parameter Expansion::) for
additional ways to manipulate the results of array subscripting.

Subscript Parsing
-----------------

This discussion applies mainly to associative array key strings and to
patterns used for reverse subscripting (the `r', `R', `i', etc. flags),
but it may also affect parameter substitutions that appear as part of
an arithmetic expression in an ordinary subscript.

The basic rule to remember when writing a subscript expression is that
all text between the opening `[' and the closing `]' is interpreted _as
if_ it were in double quotes (*Note Quoting::).  However, unlike double
quotes which normally cannot nest, subscript expressions may appear
inside double-quoted strings or inside other subscript expressions (or
both!), so the rules have two important differences.

The first difference is that brackets (`[' and `]') must appear as
balanced pairs in a subscript expression unless they are preceded by a
backslash (`\').  Therefore, within a subscript expression (and unlike
true double-quoting) the sequence `\[' becomes `[', and similarly `\]'
becomes `]'.  This applies even in cases where a backslash is not
normally required; for example, the pattern `[^[]' (to match any
character other than an open bracket) should be written `[^\[]' in a
reverse-subscript pattern.  However, note that `\[^\[\]' and even
`\[^[]' mean the _same_ thing, because backslashes are always stripped
when they appear before brackets!

The same rule applies to parentheses (`(' and `)') and braces (`{' and
`}'): they must appear either in balanced pairs or preceded by a
backslash, and backslashes that protect parentheses or braces are
removed during parsing.  This is because parameter expansions may be
surrounded balanced braces, and subscript flags are introduced by
balanced parenthesis.

The second difference is that a double-quote (`"') may appear as part
of a subscript expression without being preceded by a backslash, and
therefore that the two characters `\"' remain as two characters in the
subscript (in true double-quoting, `\"' becomes `"').  However, because
of the standard shell quoting rules, any double-quotes that appear must
occur in balanced pairs unless preceded by a backslash.  This makes it
more difficult to write a subscript expression that contains an odd
number of double-quote characters, but the reason for this difference is
so that when a subscript expression appears inside true double-quotes,
one can still write `\"' (rather than `\\\"') for `"'.

To use an odd number of double quotes as a key in an assignment, use the
typeset builtin and an enclosing pair of double quotes; to refer to the
value of that key, again use double quotes:

     typeset -A aa
     typeset "aa[one\"two\"three\"quotes]"=QQQ
     print "$aa[one\"two\"three\"quotes]"

It is important to note that the quoting rules do not change when a
parameter expansion with a subscript is nested inside another subscript
expression.  That is, it is not necessary to use additional backslashes
within the inner subscript expression; they are removed only once, from
the innermost subscript outwards.  Parameters are also expanded from the
innermost subscript first, as each expansion is encountered left to
right in the outer expression.

A further complication arises from a way in which subscript parsing is
_not_ different from double quote parsing.  As in true double-quoting,
the sequences `\*', and `\@' remain as two characters when they appear
in a subscript expression.  To use a literal `*' or `@' as an
associative array key, the `e' flag must be used:

     typeset -A aa
     aa[(e)*]=star
     print $aa[(e)*]

A last detail must be considered when reverse subscripting is performed.
Parameters appearing in the subscript expression are first expanded and
then the complete expression is interpreted as a pattern.  This has two
effects: first, parameters behave as if GLOB_SUBST were on (and it
cannot be turned off); second, backslashes are interpreted twice, once
when parsing the array subscript and again when parsing the pattern.
In a reverse subscript, it's necessary to use _four_ backslashes to
cause a single backslash to match literally in the pattern.  For
complex patterns, it is often easiest to assign the desired pattern to
a parameter and then refer to that parameter in the subscript, because
then the backslashes, brackets, parentheses, etc., are seen only when
the complete expression is converted to a pattern.  To match the value
of a parameter literally in a reverse subscript, rather than as a
pattern, use `${(q)NAME}' (*Note Parameter Expansion::) to quote the
expanded value.

Note that the `k' and `K' flags are reverse subscripting for an
ordinary array, but are _not_ reverse subscripting for an associative
array!  (For an associative array, the keys in the array itself are
interpreted as patterns by those flags; the subscript is a plain string
in that case.)

One final note, not directly related to subscripting: the numeric names
of positional parameters (*Note Positional Parameters::) are parsed
specially, so for example `$2foo' is equivalent to `${2}foo'.
Therefore, to use subscript syntax to extract a substring from a
positional parameter, the expansion must be surrounded by braces; for
example, `${2[3,5]}' evaluates to the third through fifth characters of
the second positional parameter, but `$2[3,5]' is the entire second
parameter concatenated with the filename generation pattern `[3,5]'.


File: zsh.info,  Node: Positional Parameters,  Next: Local Parameters,  Prev: Array Parameters,  Up: Parameters

Positional Parameters
=====================

The positional parameters provide access to the command-line arguments
of a shell function, shell script, or the shell itself; see *Note
Invocation::, and also *Note Functions::.  The parameter N, where N is
a number, is the Nth positional parameter.  The parameters *, @ and
argv are arrays containing all the positional parameters; thus
`$argv[N]', etc., is equivalent to simply `$N'.

Positional parameters may be changed after the shell or function starts
by using the set builtin, by assigning to the argv array, or by direct
assignment of the form `N=VALUE' where N is the number of the
positional parameter to be changed.  This also creates (with empty
values) any of the positions from 1 to N that do not already have
values.  Note that, because the positional parameters form an array, an
array assignment of the form `N=(VALUE ...)' is allowed, and has the
effect of shifting all the values at positions greater than N by as
many positions as necessary to accommodate the new values.


File: zsh.info,  Node: Local Parameters,  Next: Parameters Set By The Shell,  Prev: Positional Parameters,  Up: Parameters

Local Parameters
================

Shell function executions delimit scopes for shell parameters.
(Parameters are dynamically scoped.)  The typeset builtin, and its
alternative forms declare, integer, local and readonly (but not
export), can be used to declare a parameter as being local to the
innermost scope.

When a parameter is read or assigned to, the innermost existing
parameter of that name is used.  (That is, the local parameter hides
any less-local parameter.)  However, assigning to a non-existent
parameter, or declaring a new parameter with export, causes it to be
created in the _outer_most scope.

Local parameters disappear when their scope ends.  unset can be used to
delete a parameter while it is still in scope; any outer parameter of
the same name remains hidden.

Special parameters may also be made local; they retain their special
attributes unless either the existing or the newly-created parameter
has the -h (hide) attribute.  This may have unexpected effects: there
is no default value, so if there is no assignment at the point the
variable is made local, it will be set to an empty value (or zero in
the case of integers).  The following:

     typeset PATH=/new/directory:$PATH

is valid for temporarily allowing the shell or programmes called from
it to find the programs in /new/directory inside a function.

Note that the restriction in older versions of zsh that local parameters
were never exported has been removed.

