Re: Strange bug with or without quotes

[Philippe Altherr <philippe.altherr@xxxxxxxxx>]

When you use quotes around an array parameter, joining happens first, so before the :# operation (or any other expansion operation). The (@) forces the :# operation to work on the array elements and only then join the result.

Philippe

On Sun, Apr 5, 2026 at 1:51 PM Klaus Ethgen <Klaus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi,

Am So den  5. Apr 2026 um 12:36 schrieb Mikael Magnusson:
> > Assume:
> > local -a pcomps=('bzip2' 'lzip')
> >
> > Now try to keep matching parts:
> > echo "${(M)pcomps:#bzip2}" # -> ""
> > echo ${(M)pcomps:#bzip2}   # -> "bzip2"
>
> an array in double quoted context will be joined by spaces, the
> following will do what you want:
> % echo "${(M@)pcomps:#bzip2}"
> bzip2

Well, I expected that and it should not matter in that situation as the
value "bzip2" is the only remaining value in the array so when joined
should be still _not_ "" (empty)

Regards
   Klaus
--
Klaus Ethgen                                       http://www.ethgen.ch/
pub  4096R/4E20AF1C 2011-05-16            Klaus Ethgen <Klaus@xxxxxxxxx>
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