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To:	rc@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu
In-Reply-To: <200005121014.MAA17928@trillian.softwell.se>
Subject: Re: ifs substitution, how should it work?
Date:	Mon, 15 May 2000 05:27:17 -0400
From:	Tim Goodwin <tjg@star.le.ac.uk>
Message-ID: <SwQAAAzDHzn2HQAA@ltsun0.star.le.ac.uk>

> (i have failed utterly to understand the simple rc syntax before, so
> presumably I only need a friendly explanation as to why they must be
> the same :-)

I bet you don't even need an explanation :-).  What would you expect

    ; ifs=' <tab>
    '

to do (where `<tab>' represents a literal tab)?

I don't know why Duff didn't make $ifs an rc list, but it remains
in rc as it was in Bourne: a string treated as a list of individual
characters.

Tim.