Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name

shift

Synopsis

    shift [variable]

If variable is given, shift the words in a word list variable; e.g., assuming a wordlist variable named offices, offices[2] becomes offices[1]. With no argument, shift the positional parameters (command-line arguments); i.e., $2 becomes $1. shift is typically used in a while loop. See additional example under while.

Example

while ($#argv)      While there are arguments
        if (-f $argv[1])
           wc -l $argv[1]
        else
           echo "$argv[1] is not a regular file"
        endif
        shift           Get the next argument
    end