UNIX prompts (-ksh)

[Bruce T. Harvey]

In article <4549 at vpk4.UUCP>, hjespers at vpk4.UUCP (Hans Jespersen) writes:
> In article <2391 at buengc.BU.EDU> bph at buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
> >In article <11080 at well.UUCP> tneff at well.UUCP (Tom Neff) writes:
> >>	export PS1='$PWD> '

> Absolutely correct. I think Tom ment
> 	export PS1=`$PWD> `

Nope.  Tom meant '$PWD' when he said it.  The reason for the single quotes
is so that the shell where the definition is being made does not interpret
$PWD.  If it did, the current working directory of _that_shell_ would
_always_ display.  By quoting it, four characters ($, P, W, and D) are
exported and not interpreted by ksh _until_displayed_.  I don't think sh-
does any interpretation of displayed variables in this manner, which is
why it doesn't work this way using sh-.

If you use back-quotes, as in above, you end up trying to execute a
directory.

(" ... Hmm.  I wonder if that's why directories must be x-ecutable to be
       used ...")


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