Apparently mysterious output?

Got this puzzling error, well it bloody puzzles me:

echo $(echo "$(cat file1)/$(cat file2)"|bc) > tee f3

Trying ineptly to use the command tee. Instead got a file called 'tee' and it was not empty it had: '4 f3' in it. Well I'm mystified???????? The 4 was the result of file1/file2 (file1 has 2 in it, file2 has 0.5 in it) but what's the f3 doing there????????

The command as written

Code:

---

echo $(echo "$(cat file1)/$(cat file2)"|bc) > tee f3

---

expands to this

Code:

---

echo $(echo "2/0.5"|bc) > tee f3

---

which expands to this

Code:

---

echo 4 > tee f3

---

which is equivalent to this

Code:

---

echo 4 f3 > tee

---

and that wouldn't surpise you at all.

I love commutative operations.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by furrycat

Code:

---

echo 4 > tee f3

---

which is equivalent to this

Code:

---

echo 4 f3 > tee

---

and that wouldn't surpise you at all.

---

I'm afraid it would.:) Understand echo 4 f3 > tee gives tee containing 4 f3, but how is the first code snippet equivalent to this?

> file is a shell operation. It's independent of the command run.

Code:

---

> tee echo 4 f3

---

is the same as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by furrycat

> file is a shell operation. It's independent of the command run.

Code:

---

> tee echo 4 f3

---

is the same as well.

---

Gracias. Who'd have thought it, very strange, perhaps the rationale is 'It's not ambiguous so allow it.'