First post on here. So I use csh shells for my research (physics... not a CS person). I am trying to rerun the same scripts, but there are ~10 files that have similar variables that I have to change for each different configuration, so I would like one central file for the variables I change that get used in the various csh files.

Basically what I have been trying to do by scouring the internet but have had no success is to have a document with values:

l2064f211b600m011m055m645
l2064f211b600m011m055m645b
l2064f211b600m011m055m645c
l2064f211b600m011m055m645d
('0.645 0.645 0.645' '0.011 0.011 0.011' '0.011 0.011 0.055' '0.011 0.055 0.055'  '0.055 0.055 0.055')
(645 011 011m 055m 055)
1.2
1.2
1.2
64
32
36

set mass = ('0.645 0.645 0.645' '0.011 0.011 0.011' '0.011 0.011 0.055' '0.011 0.055 0.055'  '0.055 0.055 0.055'), but instead from the file (call it specs)

mass=$(awk 'NR==$1' specs)

Do you absolutely have to use csh? It makes everything harder.

I would like to stay with it because I have large programs written. I knew someone would bring this up, next project I start ill change to something more modern.

You are already trying to use bourne shell! $() is bourne syntax. You only get to use `` in csh.

csh can't do the kind of doublethink where you put a csh statement in a variable then execute it, either. sh can, but you have to force it, since it's very seldom a good idea to do so.

This will get them in an array where each number is its own index:

set VAR = ( `tr -d ",()'" < infile` )