ACL Syntax Conventions for Quotation Marks

Arbortext Command Language > Using the Arbortext Command Language > ACL Syntax Conventions for Quotation Marks

Either double (") or single (') quotes can be used to delimit strings.

When a variable occurs within double quotes, its value is substituted. For example,

String	Result
$firstname="John" $lastname="Smith" $string1="My name is $firstname $lastname."	My name is John Smith.

When a variable occurs in a string delimited by single quotes, it is treated as a literal string. For example,

String	Result
$string2='My name is $firstname $lastname.'	My name is $firstname $lastname.

If a dollar sign ($) is directly followed by characters, the sequence is treated as a variable string. To treat the sequence as a literal string, use two consecutive dollar signs. For example,

String	Result
$firstname="John" $lastname="Smith" $string3="My name is $$firstname $lastname."	My name is $firstname Smith.

Also note that backslash (\) sequences are recognized in double-quoted strings but not in single-quoted strings. In the following example, the backslash (\) and double quotes (“) are used to create a newline character that is assigned to the variable $n1.

$n1="\n"

The next example is a string of the two characters `\' and `n':

$n1=`\n'