zsh adds empty string to local parameter when += is used

[jamil bio <jamilbio20@gmail.com>]

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Hello good people,

It seems there is a bug which I will describe below.
I checked with usenet comp.unix.shell people and they said that is 
strange behavior.

I am using Z-shell 5.8. The problem is when I add elements to an array 
with += inside a function, an empty element is generated. The empty 
element is added only if I set array $files as local.

The following is an example code.


#!/bin/zsh
#!/bin/bash

func()
{
     local REPLY  files

     #unset files
     for REPLY in file1 file2 file3
     do
         files+=( "$REPLY" )
         echo "${#files[@]} -- ${files[@]}"
     done
}

func


If I set $files to local but unset it before the loop, the empty element 
is not added. Running the script with zsh returns:


2 --  file1
3 --  file1 file2
4 --  file1 file2 file3


While if we run the code with bash:


1 -- file1
2 -- file1 file2
3 -- file1 file2 file3


I was actually using a while read loop to read filenames, but the 
problem also occurs when I use the for loop.

So the workaround suggested is to set $files as local and then later 
define files=( ) which will prevent empty element being added somehow.

Thanks for all your efforts in making zsh so great!

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