Re: Query regarding ${parameter:-word} usage

[Matthew Woehlke]

Mun wrote:
> I am moving from ksh93 to bash and have a question regarding the usage
> of ${parameter:-word} parameter expansion.
>
> In ksh, I use ${*:-.} as an argument to commands.  For example:
>
>     function ll
>     {
>        ls --color -Flv ${*:-.}
>     }
>
> This technique passes '.' as an arg to 'ls' if I didn't pass any args on
> the command line (as I'm sure you all already know).  But this does not
> work with bash; nor have I been able to come up with a technique that
> accomplishes the same thing.  My only workaround so far is to put an
> 'if' loop around the 'ls' that tests $# and takes the appropriate branch
> depending on the number of args (i.e., 0 or non-zero).
>
> Any suggestions would be welcomed.  Thanks in advance.

Not sure why the above doesn't work, though you probably mean to use 
"$@" and not $* (presence/absence of ""s is intentional). This seems to 
work for me:

  function ll
  {
    ls --color -Flv "${@:-.}"
  }

--
Matthew
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