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 6.11 Bash POSIX Mode | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ==================== | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Starting Bash with the '--posix' command-line option or executing 'set | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 -o posix' while Bash is running will cause Bash to conform more closely | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 to the POSIX standard by changing the behavior to match that specified | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 by POSIX in areas where the Bash default differs. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 When invoked as 'sh', Bash enters POSIX mode after reading the startup | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 files. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The following list is what's changed when 'POSIX mode' is in effect: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   1. Bash ensures that the 'POSIXLY_CORRECT' variable is set. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   2. When a command in the hash table no longer exists, Bash will | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      re-search '$PATH' to find the new location.  This is also available | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      with 'shopt -s checkhash'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   3. Bash will not insert a command without the execute bit set into the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      command hash table, even if it returns it as a (last-ditch) result | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      from a '$PATH' search. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   4. The message printed by the job control code and builtins when a job | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      exits with a non-zero status is 'Done(status)'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   5. The message printed by the job control code and builtins when a job | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      is stopped is 'Stopped(SIGNAME)', where SIGNAME is, for example, | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'SIGTSTP'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   6. Alias expansion is always enabled, even in non-interactive shells. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   7. Reserved words appearing in a context where reserved words are | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      recognized do not undergo alias expansion. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   8. The POSIX 'PS1' and 'PS2' expansions of '!' to the history number | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      and '!!' to '!' are enabled, and parameter expansion is performed | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      on the values of 'PS1' and 'PS2' regardless of the setting of the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'promptvars' option. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   9. The POSIX startup files are executed ('$ENV') rather than the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      normal Bash files. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   10. Tilde expansion is only performed on assignments preceding a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      command name, rather than on all assignment statements on the line. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   11. The default history file is '~/.sh_history' (this is the default | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      value of '$HISTFILE'). | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   12. Redirection operators do not perform filename expansion on the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      word in the redirection unless the shell is interactive. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   13. Redirection operators do not perform word splitting on the word in | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the redirection. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   14. Function names must be valid shell 'name's.  That is, they may not | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      contain characters other than letters, digits, and underscores, and | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      may not start with a digit.  Declaring a function with an invalid | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      name causes a fatal syntax error in non-interactive shells. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   15. Function names may not be the same as one of the POSIX special | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      builtins. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   16. POSIX special builtins are found before shell functions during | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      command lookup. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   17. When printing shell function definitions (e.g., by 'type'), Bash | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      does not print the 'function' keyword. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   18. Literal tildes that appear as the first character in elements of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the 'PATH' variable are not expanded as described above under *note | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      Tilde Expansion::. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   19. The 'time' reserved word may be used by itself as a command.  When | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      used in this way, it displays timing statistics for the shell and | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      its completed children.  The 'TIMEFORMAT' variable controls the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      format of the timing information. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   20. When parsing and expanding a ${...} expansion that appears within | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      double quotes, single quotes are no longer special and cannot be | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      used to quote a closing brace or other special character, unless | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the operator is one of those defined to perform pattern removal. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      In this case, they do not have to appear as matched pairs. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   21. The parser does not recognize 'time' as a reserved word if the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      next token begins with a '-'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   22. The '!' character does not introduce history expansion within a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      double-quoted string, even if the 'histexpand' option is enabled. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   23. If a POSIX special builtin returns an error status, a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      non-interactive shell exits.  The fatal errors are those listed in | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the POSIX standard, and include things like passing incorrect | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      options, redirection errors, variable assignment errors for | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      assignments preceding the command name, and so on. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   24. A non-interactive shell exits with an error status if a variable | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      assignment error occurs when no command name follows the assignment | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      statements.  A variable assignment error occurs, for example, when | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      trying to assign a value to a readonly variable. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   25. A non-interactive shell exits with an error status if a variable | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      assignment error occurs in an assignment statement preceding a | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      special builtin, but not with any other simple command. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   26. A non-interactive shell exits with an error status if the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      iteration variable in a 'for' statement or the selection variable | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      in a 'select' statement is a readonly variable. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   27. Non-interactive shells exit if FILENAME in '.'  FILENAME is not | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      found. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   28. Non-interactive shells exit if a syntax error in an arithmetic | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      expansion results in an invalid expression. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   29. Non-interactive shells exit if a parameter expansion error occurs. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   30. Non-interactive shells exit if there is a syntax error in a script | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      read with the '.' or 'source' builtins, or in a string processed by | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the 'eval' builtin. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   31. While variable indirection is available, it may not be applied to | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the '#' and '?' special parameters. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   32. When expanding the '*' special parameter in a pattern context | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      where the expansion is double-quoted does not treat the '$*' as if | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      it were double-quoted. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   33. Assignment statements preceding POSIX special builtins persist in | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the shell environment after the builtin completes. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   34. The 'command' builtin does not prevent builtins that take | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      assignment statements as arguments from expanding them as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      assignment statements; when not in POSIX mode, assignment builtins | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      lose their assignment statement expansion properties when preceded | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      by 'command'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   35. The 'bg' builtin uses the required format to describe each job | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      placed in the background, which does not include an indication of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      whether the job is the current or previous job. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   36. The output of 'kill -l' prints all the signal names on a single | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      line, separated by spaces, without the 'SIG' prefix. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   37. The 'kill' builtin does not accept signal names with a 'SIG' | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      prefix. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   38. The 'export' and 'readonly' builtin commands display their output | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      in the format required by POSIX. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   39. The 'trap' builtin displays signal names without the leading | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'SIG'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   40. The 'trap' builtin doesn't check the first argument for a possible | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      signal specification and revert the signal handling to the original | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      disposition if it is, unless that argument consists solely of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      digits and is a valid signal number.  If users want to reset the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      handler for a given signal to the original disposition, they should | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      use '-' as the first argument. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   41. 'trap -p' displays signals whose dispositions are set to SIG_DFL | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      and those that were ignored when the shell started. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   42. The '.' and 'source' builtins do not search the current directory | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      for the filename argument if it is not found by searching 'PATH'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   43. Enabling POSIX mode has the effect of setting the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'inherit_errexit' option, so subshells spawned to execute command | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      substitutions inherit the value of the '-e' option from the parent | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      shell.  When the 'inherit_errexit' option is not enabled, Bash | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      clears the '-e' option in such subshells. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   44. Enabling POSIX mode has the effect of setting the 'shift_verbose' | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      option, so numeric arguments to 'shift' that exceed the number of | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      positional parameters will result in an error message. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   45. When the 'alias' builtin displays alias definitions, it does not | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      display them with a leading 'alias ' unless the '-p' option is | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      supplied. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   46. When the 'set' builtin is invoked without options, it does not | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      display shell function names and definitions. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   47. When the 'set' builtin is invoked without options, it displays | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      variable values without quotes, unless they contain shell | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      metacharacters, even if the result contains nonprinting characters. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   48. When the 'cd' builtin is invoked in LOGICAL mode, and the pathname | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      constructed from '$PWD' and the directory name supplied as an | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      argument does not refer to an existing directory, 'cd' will fail | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      instead of falling back to PHYSICAL mode. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   49. When the 'cd' builtin cannot change a directory because the length | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      of the pathname constructed from '$PWD' and the directory name | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      supplied as an argument exceeds PATH_MAX when all symbolic links | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      are expanded, 'cd' will fail instead of attempting to use only the | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      supplied directory name. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   50. The 'pwd' builtin verifies that the value it prints is the same as | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the current directory, even if it is not asked to check the file | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      system with the '-P' option. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   51. When listing the history, the 'fc' builtin does not include an | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      indication of whether or not a history entry has been modified. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   52. The default editor used by 'fc' is 'ed'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   53. The 'type' and 'command' builtins will not report a non-executable | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      file as having been found, though the shell will attempt to execute | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      such a file if it is the only so-named file found in '$PATH'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   54. The 'vi' editing mode will invoke the 'vi' editor directly when | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      the 'v' command is run, instead of checking '$VISUAL' and | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      '$EDITOR'. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   55. When the 'xpg_echo' option is enabled, Bash does not attempt to | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      interpret any arguments to 'echo' as options.  Each argument is | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      displayed, after escape characters are converted. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   56. The 'ulimit' builtin uses a block size of 512 bytes for the '-c' | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      and '-f' options. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   57. The arrival of 'SIGCHLD' when a trap is set on 'SIGCHLD' does not | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      interrupt the 'wait' builtin and cause it to return immediately. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      The trap command is run once for each child that exits. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   58. The 'read' builtin may be interrupted by a signal for which a trap | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      has been set.  If Bash receives a trapped signal while executing | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'read', the trap handler executes and 'read' returns an exit status | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      greater than 128. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   59. Bash removes an exited background process's status from the list | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      of such statuses after the 'wait' builtin is used to obtain it. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 There is other POSIX behavior that Bash does not implement by default | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 even when in POSIX mode.  Specifically: | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   1. The 'fc' builtin checks '$EDITOR' as a program to edit history | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      entries if 'FCEDIT' is unset, rather than defaulting directly to | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      'ed'.  'fc' uses 'ed' if 'EDITOR' is unset. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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   2. As noted above, Bash requires the 'xpg_echo' option to be enabled | 
 
 
 
 
 
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      for the 'echo' builtin to be fully conformant. | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Bash can be configured to be POSIX-conformant by default, by specifying | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 the '--enable-strict-posix-default' to 'configure' when building (*note | 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Optional Features::). | 
 
 
 
 
 
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  |