CompuServe Messages

Rick, What is the meaning of the '%' in the shell? In the Alias example: alias xxx "%i echo this $i is a test" Is the '%' use to identify a passed variable on the command line? If so, how many passed parameters can be on the command line? There is no discussion of the '%' symbol in the docs. In other places in the documentation the '%' looks as though it is the prompt. How do you use the IF command to test for existence of a file on disk? (I want to set up a conditional copy which tests for files existence before it overwrites.) Thanks, Steve