Re: indirect parameter expansion broken for ${#PARAM}

[Chet Ramey]

> Machine Type: i386-pc-linux-gnu
> 
> Bash Version: 2.03
> Patch Level: 0
> Release Status: release
> 
> Description:
> 
> Indirect parameter expansion (i.e. of the form ${!var}) seems to be
> broken in bash 2.03 when used in the ${#var} form to obtain the length
> of a variable's value.

It's never worked like that.  The `!' must appear immediately after
the `{' to be recognized.  Do it in two steps, with an intermediate
variable.

> Repeat-By:
> 
> # the following should print "3", instead it causes an error:
> 
> myvar=val
> myvarname=myvar
> echo ${#!myvarname}
> bash: !myvarname}: event not found

myvar=val                                                                     
myvarname=myvar
tmpvar=${!myvarname}
echo ${#tmpvar}

-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
( ``Discere est Dolere'' -- chet)

Chet Ramey, CWRU    chet@po.CWRU.Edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/