How to Unset All Command-Line Parameters (Unix Power Tools, 3rd Edition)

36.10. How to Unset All Command-Line Parameters

The shift (Section 35.22) command "shifts away" one command-line parameter. You can shift three times if there are three command-line parameters. Many shells also can take an argument, like shift 3, that tells how many times to shift; on those shells, you can shift $# (Section 35.20) to unset all parameters.

The portable way to unset all command-line parameters is probably to set (Section 35.25) a single dummy parameter, then shift it away:

+set x
shift

Setting the single parameter wipes out whatever other parameters were set before.

-- JP