Subject: simple shell test question
To: None <netbsd-users@netbsd.org>
From: Jim Breton <jamesb-netbsd@alongtheway.com>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 06/06/2002 05:48:59
In my travels I have often seen shell syntax like the following:
[ x"$VAR" != x"value" ]
What is the point of doing that instead of the following?
[ "$VAR" != "value" ]
Does the 'x' have some special meaning? (If so, are there any other
characters with special meanings?)
I have checked two books in my stash and neither of them mentions any
use of this syntax that I can see.