shell scripting basics

[Louis-David Mitterrand <mito@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm trying to learn shell scripting with the examples provided in the
zsh distribution but some things I've not been able to figure out:

- How to read standard input line-by-line inside a script?
    
    For example if the script test.sh is invoked as 
    "cat README | test.sh"
    How do I get a handle to the standard input without using 'cat'
    inside the script?

    for i in $(<standard input>) do 
        <something with line>
    done

- How to store the output of a function in a scalar?

    function hashcode() {
        return $[$1 * $2]
    }
    scalar=`eval hashcode(param1, param2)`
   
   but that doesn't work.
   
Thanks in advance for suggestions.

-- 
Louis-David Mitterrand
http://www.aparima.com
mito@xxxxxxxxxxx