bash-hackers-wiki/docs/commands/builtin/local.md

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# The local builtin command
## Synopsis
local [option] name[=value] ...
## Description
`local` is identical to [declare](../../commands/builtin/declare.md) in every
way, and takes all the same options, with 3 exceptions:
- Usage outside of a function is an error. Both `declare` and `local`
within a function have the same effect on variable scope, including
the -g option.
- `local` with no options prints variable names and values in the same
format as `declare` with no options, except the variables are
filtered to print only locals that were set in the same scope from
which `local` was called. Variables in parent scopes are not
printed.
- If name is '-', the set of shell options is made local to the
function in which local is invoked: shell options changed using the
set builtin inside the function are restored to their original
values when the function returns. The restore is effected as if a
series of set commands were executed to restore the values that were
in place before the function.
## Portability considerations
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- `local` is not specified by POSIX. Most bourne-like shells don't
have a builtin called `local`, but some such as `dash` and the
busybox shell do.
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- The behavior of function scope is not defined by POSIX, however
local variables are implemented widely by bourne-like shells, and
behavior differs substantially. Even the`dash` shell has local
variables.
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
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- In ksh93, using POSIX-style function definitions, `typeset` doesn't
set `local` variables, but rather acts upon variables of the
next-outermost scope (e.g. setting attributes). Using `typeset`
within functions defined using ksh `function name {` syntax,
variables follow roughly
[lexical-scoping](http://community.schemewiki.org/?lexical-scope),
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except that functions themselves don't have scope, just like Bash.
This means that even functions defined within a \"function's
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scope\" don't have access to non-local variables except through
`namerefs`.
## See also
- <http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/scripting/basics#variable_scope>