.\" Copyright (c) 2001-2003 The Open Group, All Rights Reserved 
.TH "SHIFT" P 2003 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
.\" shift 
.SH NAME
shift \- shift positional parameters
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
\fBshift\fP \fB[\fP\fIn\fP\fB]\fP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
The positional parameters shall be shifted. Positional parameter 1
shall be assigned the value of parameter (1+\fIn\fP),
parameter 2 shall be assigned the value of parameter (2+\fIn\fP),
and so on. The parameters represented by the numbers
\fB"$#"\fP down to \fB"$#-n+1"\fP shall be unset, and the parameter
\fB'#'\fP is updated to reflect the new number of
positional parameters.
.LP
The value \fIn\fP shall be an unsigned decimal integer less than or
equal to the value of the special parameter \fB'#'\fP .
If \fIn\fP is not given, it shall be assumed to be 1. If \fIn\fP is
0, the positional and special parameters are not changed.
.SH OPTIONS
.LP
None.
.SH OPERANDS
.LP
See the DESCRIPTION.
.SH STDIN
.LP
Not used.
.SH INPUT FILES
.LP
None.
.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
.LP
None.
.SH ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
.LP
Default.
.SH STDOUT
.LP
Not used.
.SH STDERR
.LP
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
.SH OUTPUT FILES
.LP
None.
.SH EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
.LP
None.
.SH EXIT STATUS
.LP
The exit status is >0 if \fIn\fP>$#; otherwise, it is zero.
.SH CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
.LP
Default.
.LP
\fIThe following sections are informative.\fP
.SH APPLICATION USAGE
.LP
None.
.SH EXAMPLES
.sp
.RS
.nf

\fB$\fP \fBset a b c d e
\fP\fB$\fP \fBshift 2
\fP\fB$\fP \fBecho $*
\fP\fBc d e\fP
.fi
.RE
.SH RATIONALE
.LP
None.
.SH FUTURE DIRECTIONS
.LP
None.
.SH SEE ALSO
.LP
\fISpecial Built-In Utilities\fP
.SH COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .