sh(1) command substitution and here documents

[Chris Torek]

In article <1254 at cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU> jack at cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU
(Jack Nelson) writes:
>... using [a] here document:
>	#!/bin/sh
>	var=`bc <<End
>	scale=2
>	3 / 4
>	End
>	`
>But this doesn't work; an error message "cannot open /tmp/sh01383"
>always is produced, both on 4.3 and 2.10 systems.  Is there a way
>to do this?  Can one deduce this behavior from the manual?

It is almost noted in the BUGS section:

     If << is used to provide standard input to an asynchronous
     process invoked by &, the shell gets mixed up about naming
     the input document.  A garbage file /tmp/sh* is created, and
     the shell complains about not being able to find the file by
     another name.

Given this, the error message above, and the fact that a garbage
file is created, you can guess what is happening.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain:	chris at mimsy.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris