local variables in bash

[Shane Hathaway]

Merrill Oveson wrote:
> If you run this, you'll notice that loc_var prints as 23.  It should print
> as 43.
> This is a problem with bash - that is if one function calls another the
> value of the local variables are seen.

It's a surprise, but it follows the bash documentation.

$ help local
local: local name[=value] ...
     Create a local variable called NAME, and give it VALUE.  LOCAL
     can only be used within a function; it makes the variable NAME
     have a visible scope restricted to that function and its children.

The "... and its children" specification is different from most 
programming languages that I'm familiar with.  I guess bash searches the 
call stack for variables, rather than use scoping rules like most 
languages.  Another reason not to write anything complex in bash. :-)

Shane