A file isn't a shell script unless it begins with a "#!/....." on the first line, and the permission is set to execute. If the file is a shell script then the "#" character is a remark delimiter. The bang "!" character is a negation (NOT) operator. If the file is not a shell script then it may be a configuration file, which is nothing more than a data file to some executable. The meaning of "#" and "!" then depend on what the author of the associated executable wants them to mean. JLK On Tuesday 03 April 2001 09:33, James McCreery wrote:

I don't think I was clear enough in my earlier question about comment characters.

An example of what I'm talking about: In my 7.1 installation the /etc/X11/xdm/Xresources file uses the "!" character to start comment lines and puts the "#" character before IF, ENDIF, ELSE type statements. This confused me because I thought that the "#" character *always* meant the start of a comment line.

Is this file (/etc/X11/xdm/Xresources) a shell script? If so why does it use the "#" character in this way?

cheers james.

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