======Synopsis:======
assign \\ 
assign //<[[lva|variable name]]>// \\ 
assign -//<[[lval|variable name]]>// \\ 
assign //<[[lval|variable name]]>// //<value>//

======Description:======
__ASSIGN__ is the general-purpose interface for creating and manipulating
variables.  Just about any value can be assigned, whether it be a
string or a number.  Internally, the language is untyped; every variable
is a string.  But if you use a variable containing a number in a place 
where a number is expected, it will be automatically converted for you.

The rules for variable names are similar to those of the C language;
they may consist of any letter, digit, or the underscore (_) character,
and they must begin with a letter.  Unlike C, variable names are not
case-sensitive (nor are their contents, though they are case-preserving).

__ASSIGN__ is primarily used for string assignments.  It can be used for
mathematical purposes as well, using the ${} construct, but it can very
quickly become awkward and cumbersome.  Mathematical operations are
better suited to the @ modifier (see [[Expressions]]).

======Examples:======
To assign a text string to the variable $foo:
      assign foo this is some text string

To compute the sum of two integers:
      assign foo ${4 + 5}

To delete a variable:
      assign -foo

======See Also:======
[[Expressions]]; [[Special_Vars]]; [[alias command|alias]]; [[eval]];

======History======
The [[assign]] command first appeared in ircII.

#$EPIC: assign.txt,v 1.3 2007/10/13 17:06:43 jnelson Exp $