1GENERAL: character - characters with special meaning

Usage: $ % { } : ; \ " ' # @

$<variable>    denotes the value of the variable <variable>. If the value
               of the variable starts and ends with apostrophes "'", i.e.
               if it is a Fortran-77 character string, the delimiting apo-
               strophes are removed before inserting the value.
%<variable>    denotes the value of the variable <variable>.
{$<variable>}  (or {%<variable>}) separates the variable name <variable>
               from text that follows immediately.
<label>:       denotes a label that can be used in conjuction with goto
               statements.
<statement>; <statement> separates two or more statements that are given 
               on one line.
\<character>   treats the character <character> literally (usually used
               to include a special character into normal text). A back-
               slash at the end of a line indicates that the command 
               continues on the following line.
"<text>"       treats <text> as one parameter, also if there are blanks
               in the text <text>. "$" and "%" are still interpreted within
               the text <text>; to use them as normal characters, they
               have to be preceded by a backslash.
'<text>'       treats <text> as one parameter, also if there are blanks
               in the text <text>. "$" and "%" are still interpreted within
               the text <text>; to use them as normal characters, they
               have to be preceded by a backslash. In contrast to double
               quotes, the single quotes remain part of the text. Single
               quotes are used for Fortran-77 string constants in 
               expressions.
#              Text between "#" and the end of the line is considered as a
               comment and ignored. In macros, lines starting with "##" 
               contain on-line help information about the macro.
@<statement>   The <statement> is not echoed, except when the variable 
               "echo" is set to "full". The character "@" has a special
               meaning only in front of a statement