Re: child_pid of background process? (not in manpage?)

[Linda Walsh]

Chris Down wrote:
> On 2013-08-18 17:46, Linda Walsh wrote:
> > I don't find the variable for the process ID of the
> > last started background process documented in the bash manpage...
> >
> > Am I just missing it, or did it get left out by accident or
> > where did it go?
>
> First of all, it would help if you gave your version. At least in 4.2.45, it's
> under "Special Parameters".
>
> > Special Parameters
> >
> > [...]
> >
> >     !      Expands to the process ID of the most recently executed
> >            background (asynchronous) command.
---
That explains it... There's -- in searching the output, I'm
pretty sure that seeing a stray '!' in the left hand margin
wouldn't have looked like a var.

In this case, especially for the 1 char vars, wouldn't it be
easier to help people see them and help them search for them
if they included the '$' before them so they wouldn't look
like stray punctuation?  or so I could search on \$[^a-zA-Z0-0]
and find it?

It would make finding it alot easier for people skimming or
searching for it.  (Not that, it isn't technically accurate,
but searching for a single '!' as the name of a var in
text doc, might lead to quite a few false positives?

(im in V4.2.x bash, BTW,...sorry)