Foreach loop won't run

Question

Homework is to modify this script to take exec as an argument, but first I want to be able to run the script to try to figure out how to modify it

tcsh $ cat foreach_1
#!/bin/tcsh
# routine to zero-fill argv to 20 arguments
#

set buffer = (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
set count = 1
#
if ($#argv > 20) goto toomany
#
foreach argument ($argv[*])
set buffer[$count] = $argument
@ count++
end
# REPLACE command ON THE NEXT LINE WITH
# THE PROGRAM YOU WANT TO CALL.
exec command $buffer[*]
#
toomany:
echo "Too many arguments given."
echo "Usage: foreach_1 [up to 20 arguments]"
exit 1

But I get this error when trying to run it:

./foreach_1: line 5: syntax error near unexpected token `('
./foreach_1: line 5: `set buffer = (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)'

I don't have any extra quotes, so why is this happening?

Answer 1

In many shells (and I believe that tcsh is counted among the bourne compatibles), you must place the left-hand side of the expression, the = , and the right-hand side all directly adjacent to one another.

# shorten the ` = ` to `=` below:
set buffer=(0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
set count=1

if ($#argv > 20) goto toomany
#
foreach argument ($argv[*])
set buffer[$count] = $argument
@ count++
end
# REPLACE command ON THE NEXT LINE WITH
# THE PROGRAM YOU WANT TO CALL.
exec command $buffer[*]
#
toomany:
echo "Too many arguments given."
echo "Usage: foreach_1 [up to 20 arguments]"
exit 1