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Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 15:35:32 +0100
From: Daniel Rigal <daniel.rigal@deep-thought.ericsson.se>
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Subject: Backticks In zshenv
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Hi Z-Shell users,

I am having a problem which is driving me up the wall! 
Basically, Z-Shell seems to randomly decline to run commands
in backticks in the zshenv (both the central one or the 
user's own zshenv show this effect). The problem only seems 
to occur under some circumstances. The actual thing I am 
trying to do in my zshenv is not important. I can reduce the 
problem to a very trivial example. Allow me to demonstrate...

I put the following lines in my .zshenv:

string="teststring"
echo "string=`echo $string`"
echo "string=`echo $string`"
... [repeating that last line a total of 100 times]

and then I experiment with starting a new shell. Starting
a new shell on the console, or from inside an existing shell, 
is fine. Starting a new Xterm is fine too. However firing up 
a Cmdtool, Shelltool, or DTterm produces random blank lines 
where the command result is not echoed, e.g.:

string=teststring
string=
string=teststring
string=teststring
string=
string=teststring
string=teststring
string=teststring
[and so on]

The error is most likely to happen in the first 5 lines of
output and I have never seen it occur after the first 20
lines so the probability of error seems to fall off with time.

Random behaviour? Clearly we are not in Kansas anymore! 

Has anybody seen anything even remotely like this or know
what to do about it? It is driving me and my colleagues to
distraction! We are running Z-Shell 3.0.5, Solaris 2.6 and
Openwindows 3.6, if that helps.

Any help at all will be gratefully received.

Regards,

Daniel.