Michael Shiloh wrote on Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 16:36:35 -0700:
>
>
> On 08/18/2013 02:08 PM, Daniel Shahaf wrote:
>> Some of the odd corners of shell syntax are quite useful in interactive
>> usage. For example:
>>
>> % (){ foo $1 bar } 24
>> to run a command several times (recalling it from history) and change
>> some parameter around the middle of the command line without having to
>> scroll to it every time.
>
>
> wait, can you explain this?
Sure. It's a zsh-specific syntax for an anonymous function with
arguments. In effect it's an anonymous block. For example:
% (){ printf "$1\n" 04 } "%s"
04
% (){ printf "$1\n" 04 } "%d"
4
% (){ printf "$1\n" 04 } "%e"
4.000000e+00
In interactive usage I sometimes find myself wanting to run a command
several times in a row with one argument changed. When that argument is
in the middle of a (potentially multi-line) command, I find it easier to
change it between runs by using an ad-hoc anonymous function to move the
argument-to-be-changed to the end of the input. Another case where that
would be useful is when the argument appears in two places in the
command --- using an anonymous function allows changing the argument in
just one place rather than two.
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