> Have you seen POSIX? Have you read Bourne shell documentation? I haven't. The former is expensive, the latter is not that easy to get. I have read Single UNIX

> Have you seen POSIX? Have you read Bourne shell documentation? I haven't. The former is expensive, the latter is not that easy to get. I have read Single UNIX Specification, though, which is available on-line. What is the distinction you are trying to make? Single UNIX® Specification, Version 4, 2013 Edition Technically identical to IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition and ISO/IEC 9945:2009 including ISO/IEC 9945:2009/Cor 1:2013(E), with the addition of X/Open Curses. https://www2.opengroup.org/ogsys/catalog/t101 https://www2.opengroup.org/ogsys/catalog/t101 IEEE Std 1003.1 is also known as POSIX.1. You can read it online. It documents the shell command language. http://ddg.gg/?q=1003.1-2013 http://ddg.gg/?q=1003.1-2013 See also the POSIX FAQ: http://www.opengroup.org/austin/papers/posix_faq.html http://www.opengroup.org/austin/papers/posix_faq.html EDIT: Source to bourne shell's manual is here, http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/man/man1/sh.1 http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/man/man1... There's also a PDF version, look in volume 1: http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/bswv7.html http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/bswv7.html