I have another couple of suggestions. The first suggestion is to add export -f : just before the fi so that it is available to scripts called from the m

I have another couple of suggestions. The first suggestion is to add export -f : just before the fi so that it is available to scripts called from the main script. The second is to add local IFS=" " # Insulate : from changes to IFS before the printf. because if I didn't then each word of the comment would appear on a separate line like this: :: a b c instead of this: :: a b c the reason for this is that I had defined IFS="/n/t" as suggested by the Unofficial Strict Mode.