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From: Bart Schaefer <schaefer@brasslantern.com>
Message-Id: <1040215170405.ZM21382@candle.brasslantern.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 17:04:05 +0000
In-Reply-To: <200402142012.51392.scowles@earthlink.net>
Comments: In reply to "S. Cowles" <scowles@earthlink.net>
        "Re: help with dereferencing variables" (Feb 14,  8:12pm)
References: <200402140959.24015.scowles@earthlink.net> 
	<1040214212400.ZM15293@candle.brasslantern.com> 
	<200402142012.51392.scowles@earthlink.net>
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To: zsh users <zsh-users@sunsite.dk>
Subject: Re: help with dereferencing variables
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On Feb 14,  8:12pm, S. Cowles wrote:
} 
} Many thanks; that was the info I was missing. One small aesthetics
} preference following up on your suggestion and I'm away (does not
} preserve newlines in the array element assignments):
}
} eval ${key}\=\( ${(P)val} \)

This is not equivalent to my suggestion nor to your "method 2".  It's
a bit closer to your "method 1".  In the above formulation, ${(P)val}
is expanded _before_ being eval'd.  That means that spaces and quotes
and other shell syntax in the expansion are re-parsed.

Compare:

key=tmp
val=row
row='this is a row that may );( print oops in a subshell'
eval ${key}\=\( ${(P)val} \)
print "$tmp"
eval ${key}'=( ${(P)val} )'
print "$tmp"