${var="$val" } and Ultrix (Was: Success (mostly) with the testsuite)

[Akim Demaille]

hi Alexandre,

I'm sorry to insist, but we've met this bug several times, and we
never had a clear definition of it.  I'd like to fix Autoconf but
understanding why it's fixed :)

The problem with Ultrix is probably that somehow it changes the 8th
bit of the variable values.  But `when' is the question that remains
to be answered.

I believe it is ${var="$val"} which is responsible.  But OTOH, it's
hard to find an explanation for the requirement of both "", ${ = },
and $val.

This is what I want to determine: what exactly is the guilty
construct.  By the way, I'm talking to Alexandre, but anybody with an
access to Ultrix could answer (hint hint!).  Please, include uname -a.

The problem is:

--------------------
french="Premier second"
english="First second"

: ${French="$french"} ${English=$english}

for i in $French $English
do
  echo $i
done
--------------------

gives

Premier second
first
second

instead of

Premier
second
first
second

My bet is that IFS splitting is not performed because 
`: ${French="$french"}' sets the 8bit.  That's what I would like to
observe.  Maybe it is actually the quotes that make this change.  For
instance, Alexandre, what do you get for:

----------------------------------------
french="Premier second"
english="First second"

echo "$french" | cat -v
echo $french | cat -v
echo "$english" | cat -v
echo $english | cat -v

: ${French="$french"}
: ${English=$english}

echo "$French" | cat -v
echo $French | cat -v
echo "$English" | cat -v
echo $English | cat -v
----------------------------------------

Thanks!

        Akim

PS/  If anybody could give me an access to an Ultrix...  Pleeeeeeez.