Re: Strange bug with or without quotes

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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]>
> Fingerprint: 85D4 CA42 952C 949B 1753  62B3 79D0 B06F 4E20 AF1C
>