how do i check if the first character is a parenthese in pattern matching?

if [[ $a == (* ]] obviously doesnt work. How do I use it to compare so it doesnt try to use it to group.

one way to skin that cat:

#!/bin/ksh
set -x

a='(abc'

if [[ "${a%%${a##?}}" = '(' ]]; then
   echo '( - first char'
fi

what about if the string assigned to the variable isn't a constant length? i.e. the string assigned to that variable changes.

it'd not bite if you try.

i'd love to, im just at home Something for tomorrow i suppose.

# a="(dsfsf"
# case $a in \(* ) echo ok;; esac
ok

echo $a | awk '{print /^\(/?"ok":"not ok"}'