"cd path" strangeness

[Geoff Rimmer]

In article <337 at vector.UUCP> chip at vector.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal) writes:
>Here is a wierd one.  In csh, move to some directory which doesn't have
>a "path" subdirectory.  Then type either "cd path" or "chdir path".
>
>The expected response would be "path: No such file or directory."  Instead,
>no message is issued, and either you stay where you were or you move to
>$path[1].  This behavior is independant of the definition of "cdpath" (or
>lack of definition).
>

Let me quote from the manual page for csh!

cd [dir]
chdir [dir]
	Change the shell's working directory to directory dir.  If no
	argument is given, change to the home directory of the user.
	If dir is a relative path-name not found in the current
	directory, check for it in those directories listed in the
	cdpath variable.  If dir is the name of a shell variable whose
	value starts with a /, change to the directory named by that value.

i.e. the argument after the 'cd' or 'chdir' is checked:-

	1	for a directory given by a relative pathname
	2	for a directory in cdpath
	3	for a directory taken from the shell variable

so, since #1,2 fail with your example ('cd path'), #3 is used, and so
the directory is changed to $path[1] - it seems if you give it a
variable that contains more than one directory, such as $path, it
takes the first one.

>-- 
>Chip Rosenthal /// chip at vector.UUCP /// Dallas Semiconductor /// 214-450-0400
>{uunet!warble,sun!texsun!rpp386,killer}!vector!chip
>I won't sing for politicians.  Ain't singing for Spuds.  This note's for you.

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	Geoff Rimmer, Computer Science, Warwick University, UK.
			maujd at uk.ac.warwick.opal

	"I report the news as it's seen in my country" - CNN
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