I'd like to start with that: in AIX "ksh" is a Korn Shell 88, "ksh93" is a Korn Shell 93. Because the two behave differently in this regard, which one do you use?

This is so for ksh88, not so for ksh93 and the workaround is to use a different algorithm. I agree with Corona688: whatever you do you probably do it in a wrong way anyway.


These two lines will either lead to syntax errors or not do what you expect them to do. Instead use one of the following:

Code:

(( counter = counter + 1 ))
(( counter += 1 ))

Yikes! My advice is to stay away from "eval" as long as possible. It is a perfect recipe to shoot yourself into foot.

My suggestion is to explain what you want to achieve (instead of trying to find loopholes to make possible a pseudosolution which is bad anyway) and we will find a way to do that - without workarounds and most probably without "eval".

I hope this helps.

bakunin