[PR #7429/e556abb5 backport][stable-7] Many typo fixes (#7430)

Many typo fixes (#7429)

(cherry picked from commit e556abb56b)

Co-authored-by: Alex <alex@alxg.de>

plugins/modules/aix_inittab.py

@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def main():
             ":" + module.params['action'] + ":" + module.params['command']
 
         # If current entry exists or fields are different(if the entry does not
-        # exists, then the entry wil be created
+        # exists, then the entry will be created
         if (not current_entry['exist']) or (
                 module.params['runlevel'] != current_entry['runlevel'] or
                 module.params['action'] != current_entry['action'] or

plugins/modules/clc_server.py

@@ -1501,7 +1501,7 @@ class ClcServer:
         return aa_policy_id
 
     #
-    #  This is the function that gets patched to the Request.server object using a lamda closure
+    #  This is the function that gets patched to the Request.server object using a lambda closure
     #
 
     @staticmethod

plugins/modules/consul_role.py

@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ def create_role(configuration):
     if len(configuration.node_identities) == 1 and configuration.node_identities[0] is None:
         node_id_specified = False
 
-    # get rid of None item so we can set an emtpy list for policies, service identities and node identities
+    # get rid of None item so we can set an empty list for policies, service identities and node identities
     if not policy_specified:
         configuration.policies.pop()
 

plugins/modules/dconf.py

@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ class DconfPreference(object):
         rc, out, err = dbus_wrapper.run_command(command)
 
         if rc != 0:
-            self.module.fail_json(msg='dconf failed while reseting the value with error: %s' % err,
+            self.module.fail_json(msg='dconf failed while resetting the value with error: %s' % err,
                                   out=out,
                                   err=err)
 

plugins/modules/dnsimple.py

@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ class DNSimpleV2():
             client = Client(sandbox=self.sandbox, email=self.account_email, access_token=self.account_api_token, user_agent="ansible/community.general")
         else:
             msg = "Option account_email or account_api_token not provided. " \
-                  "Dnsimple authentiction with a .dnsimple config file is not " \
+                  "Dnsimple authentication with a .dnsimple config file is not " \
                   "supported with dnsimple-python>=2.0.0"
             raise DNSimpleException(msg)
         client.identity.whoami()
@@ -225,24 +225,24 @@ class DNSimpleV2():
         self.client.domains.delete_domain(self.account.id, domain)
 
     def get_records(self, zone, dnsimple_filter=None):
-        """return dns ressource records which match a specified filter"""
+        """return dns resource records which match a specified filter"""
         records_list = self._get_paginated_result(self.client.zones.list_records,
                                                   account_id=self.account.id,
                                                   zone=zone, filter=dnsimple_filter)
         return [d.__dict__ for d in records_list]
 
     def delete_record(self, domain, rid):
-        """delete a single dns ressource record"""
+        """delete a single dns resource record"""
         self.client.zones.delete_record(self.account.id, domain, rid)
 
     def update_record(self, domain, rid, ttl=None, priority=None):
-        """update a single dns ressource record"""
+        """update a single dns resource record"""
         zr = ZoneRecordUpdateInput(ttl=ttl, priority=priority)
         result = self.client.zones.update_record(self.account.id, str(domain), str(rid), zr).data.__dict__
         return result
 
     def create_record(self, domain, name, record_type, content, ttl=None, priority=None):
-        """create a single dns ressource record"""
+        """create a single dns resource record"""
         zr = ZoneRecordInput(name=name, type=record_type, content=content, ttl=ttl, priority=priority)
         return self.client.zones.create_record(self.account.id, str(domain), zr).data.__dict__
 

plugins/modules/dnsmadeeasy.py

@@ -509,15 +509,15 @@ class DME2(object):
         return json.dumps(data, separators=(',', ':'))
 
     def createRecord(self, data):
-        # @TODO update the cache w/ resultant record + id when impleneted
+        # @TODO update the cache w/ resultant record + id when implemented
         return self.query(self.record_url, 'POST', data)
 
     def updateRecord(self, record_id, data):
-        # @TODO update the cache w/ resultant record + id when impleneted
+        # @TODO update the cache w/ resultant record + id when implemented
         return self.query(self.record_url + '/' + str(record_id), 'PUT', data)
 
     def deleteRecord(self, record_id):
-        # @TODO remove record from the cache when impleneted
+        # @TODO remove record from the cache when implemented
         return self.query(self.record_url + '/' + str(record_id), 'DELETE')
 
     def getMonitor(self, record_id):

plugins/modules/gitlab_user.py

@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ class GitLabUser(object):
 
     '''
     @param user User object
-    @param identites List of identities to be added/updated
+    @param identities List of identities to be added/updated
     @param overwrite_identities Overwrite user identities with identities passed to this module
     '''
     def add_identities(self, user, identities, overwrite_identities=False):
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ class GitLabUser(object):
 
     '''
     @param user User object
-    @param identites List of identities to be added/updated
+    @param identities List of identities to be added/updated
     '''
     def delete_identities(self, user, identities):
         changed = False

plugins/modules/homectl.py

@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ class Homectl(object):
             self.result['changed'] = True
 
         if self.disksize:
-            # convert humand readble to bytes
+            # convert human readable to bytes
             if self.disksize != record.get('diskSize'):
                 record['diskSize'] = human_to_bytes(self.disksize)
                 self.result['changed'] = True

plugins/modules/ilo_redfish_command.py

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ ilo_redfish_command:
             type: dict
             contains:
                 ret:
-                    description: Return True/False based on whether the operation was performed succesfully.
+                    description: Return True/False based on whether the operation was performed successfully.
                     type: bool
                 msg:
                     description: Status of the operation performed on the iLO.

plugins/modules/imgadm.py

@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ class Imgadm(object):
         self.uuid = module.params['uuid']
 
         # Since there are a number of (natural) aliases, prevent having to look
-        # them up everytime we operate on `state`.
+        # them up every time we operate on `state`.
         if self.params['state'] in ['present', 'imported', 'updated']:
             self.present = True
         else:

plugins/modules/installp.py

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def _check_new_pkg(module, package, repository_path):
 def _check_installed_pkg(module, package, repository_path):
     """
     Check the package on AIX.
-    It verifies if the package is installed and informations
+    It verifies if the package is installed and information
 
     :param module: Ansible module parameters spec.
     :param package: Package/fileset name.

plugins/modules/ipbase_info.py

@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ EXAMPLES = '''
 
 RETURN = '''
 data:
-  description: "JSON parsed response from ipbase.com. Please refer to U(https://ipbase.com/docs/info) for the detailled structure of the response."
+  description: "JSON parsed response from ipbase.com. Please refer to U(https://ipbase.com/docs/info) for the detailed structure of the response."
   returned: success
   type: dict
   sample: {

plugins/modules/iptables_state.py

@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ def main():
     # The issue comes when wanting to restore state from empty iptable-save's
     # output... what happens when, say:
     # - no table is specified, and iptables-save's output is only nat table;
-    # - we give filter's ruleset to iptables-restore, that locks ourselve out
+    # - we give filter's ruleset to iptables-restore, that locks ourselves out
     #   of the host;
     # then trying to roll iptables state back to the previous (working) setup
     # doesn't override current filter table because no filter table is stored

plugins/modules/jira.py

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ options:
     choices: [ attach, comment, create, edit, fetch, link, search, transition, update, worklog ]
     description:
       - The operation to perform.
-      - V(worklog) was added in community.genereal 6.5.0.
+      - V(worklog) was added in community.general 6.5.0.
 
   username:
     type: str

plugins/modules/keycloak_authentication_required_actions.py

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ short_description: Allows administration of Keycloak authentication required act
 
 description:
     - This module can register, update and delete required actions.
-    - It also filters out any duplicate required actions by their alias. The first ocurrence is preserved.
+    - It also filters out any duplicate required actions by their alias. The first occurrence is preserved.
 
 version_added: 7.1.0
 

plugins/modules/layman.py

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ options:
     description:
       - An URL of the alternative overlays list that defines the overlay to install.
         This list will be fetched and saved under C(${overlay_defs}/${name}.xml), where
-        C(overlay_defs) is readed from the Layman's configuration.
+        C(overlay_defs) is read from the Layman's configuration.
     aliases: [url]
     type: str
   state:

plugins/modules/ldap_attrs.py

@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ class LdapAttrs(LdapGeneric):
         self.ordered = self.module.params['ordered']
 
     def _order_values(self, values):
-        """ Preprend X-ORDERED index numbers to attribute's values. """
+        """ Prepend X-ORDERED index numbers to attribute's values. """
         ordered_values = []
 
         if isinstance(values, list):

plugins/modules/ldap_entry.py

@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ class LdapEntry(LdapGeneric):
             self.connection.delete_s(self.dn)
 
         def _delete_recursive():
-            """ Attempt recurive deletion using the subtree-delete control.
+            """ Attempt recursive deletion using the subtree-delete control.
             If that fails, do it manually. """
             try:
                 subtree_delete = ldap.controls.ValueLessRequestControl('1.2.840.113556.1.4.805')

plugins/modules/listen_ports_facts.py

@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
 def split_pid_name(pid_name):
     """
     Split the entry PID/Program name into the PID (int) and the name (str)
-    :param pid_name:  PID/Program String seperated with a dash. E.g 51/sshd: returns pid = 51 and name = sshd
+    :param pid_name:  PID/Program String separated with a dash. E.g 51/sshd: returns pid = 51 and name = sshd
     :return: PID (int) and the program name (str)
     """
     try:

plugins/modules/lxd_profile.py

@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ class LXDProfileManagement(object):
         Rebuild the Profile by the configuration provided in the play.
         Existing configurations are discarded.
 
-        This ist the default behavior.
+        This is the default behavior.
 
         Args:
             dict(config): Dict with the old config in 'metadata' and new config in 'config'

plugins/modules/mail.py

@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ def main():
     part = MIMEText(body + "\n\n", _subtype=subtype, _charset=charset)
     msg.attach(part)
 
-    # NOTE: Backware compatibility with old syntax using space as delimiter is not retained
+    # NOTE: Backward compatibility with old syntax using space as delimiter is not retained
     #       This breaks files with spaces in it :-(
     for filename in attach_files:
         try:

plugins/modules/netcup_dns.py

@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ records:
             sample: fancy-hostname
         type:
             description: the record type
-            returned: succcess
+            returned: success
             type: str
             sample: A
         value:

plugins/modules/nmcli.py

@@ -1743,7 +1743,7 @@ class Nmcli(object):
                 'bridge.priority': self.priority,
                 'bridge.stp': self.stp,
             })
-            # priority make sense when stp enabed, otherwise nmcli keeps bridge-priority to 32768 regrdless of input.
+            # priority make sense when stp enabled, otherwise nmcli keeps bridge-priority to 32768 regrdless of input.
             # force ignoring to save idempotency
             if self.stp:
                 options.update({'bridge.priority': self.priority})

plugins/modules/one_vm.py

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ options:
     type: str
   template_name:
     description:
-      - Name of VM template to use to create a new instace
+      - Name of VM template to use to create a new instance
     type: str
   template_id:
     description:
@@ -195,12 +195,12 @@ options:
     version_added: '0.2.0'
   datastore_id:
     description:
-      - Name of Datastore to use to create a new instace
+      - Name of Datastore to use to create a new instance
     version_added: '0.2.0'
     type: int
   datastore_name:
     description:
-      - Name of Datastore to use to create a new instace
+      - Name of Datastore to use to create a new instance
     version_added: '0.2.0'
     type: str
   updateconf:
@@ -1390,7 +1390,7 @@ def check_name_attribute(module, attributes):
     if attributes.get("NAME"):
         import re
         if re.match(r'^[^#]+#*$', attributes.get("NAME")) is None:
-            module.fail_json(msg="Ilegal 'NAME' attribute: '" + attributes.get("NAME") +
+            module.fail_json(msg="Illegal 'NAME' attribute: '" + attributes.get("NAME") +
                              "' .Signs '#' are allowed only at the end of the name and the name cannot contain only '#'.")
 
 

plugins/modules/oneview_enclosure_info.py

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ EXAMPLES = '''
   delegate_to: localhost
   register: result
 
-- name: Print fetched information about paginated, filtered ans sorted list of Enclosures
+- name: Print fetched information about paginated, filtered and sorted list of Enclosures
   ansible.builtin.debug:
     msg: "{{ result.enclosures }}"
 

plugins/modules/ovh_ip_failover.py

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ description:
 author: "Pascal HERAUD (@pascalheraud)"
 notes:
     - Uses the python OVH Api U(https://github.com/ovh/python-ovh).
-      You have to create an application (a key and secret) with a consummer
+      You have to create an application (a key and secret) with a consumer
       key as described into U(https://docs.ovh.com/gb/en/customer/first-steps-with-ovh-api/)
 requirements:
     - ovh >=  0.4.8

plugins/modules/ovh_monthly_billing.py

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ author: Francois Lallart (@fraff)
 version_added: '0.2.0'
 short_description: Manage OVH monthly billing
 description:
-    - Enable monthly billing on OVH cloud intances (be aware OVH does not allow to disable it).
+    - Enable monthly billing on OVH cloud instances (be aware OVH does not allow to disable it).
 requirements: [ "ovh" ]
 extends_documentation_fragment:
     - community.general.attributes

plugins/modules/pagerduty_alert.py

@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ options:
     link_text:
         type: str
         description:
-        - A short decription of the link_url.
+        - A short description of the link_url.
         required: false
         version_added: 7.4.0
     source:

plugins/modules/parted.py

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ options:
     required: true
   align:
     description:
-      - Set alignment for newly created partitions. Use V(undefined) for parted default aligment.
+      - Set alignment for newly created partitions. Use V(undefined) for parted default alignment.
     type: str
     choices: [ cylinder, minimal, none, optimal, undefined ]
     default: optimal

plugins/modules/pear.py

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ options:
         description:
             - List of regular expressions that can be used to detect prompts during pear package installation to answer the expected question.
             - Prompts will be processed in the same order as the packages list.
-            - You can optionnally specify an answer to any question in the list.
+            - You can optionally specify an answer to any question in the list.
             - If no answer is provided, the list item will only contain the regular expression.
             - "To specify an answer, the item will be a dict with the regular expression as key and the answer as value C(my_regular_expression: 'an_answer')."
             - You can provide a list containing items with or without answer.
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ EXAMPLES = r'''
 - name: Install multiple pear/pecl packages at once with prompts.
     Prompts will be processed on the same order as the packages order.
     If there is more prompts than packages, packages without prompts will be installed without any prompt expected.
-    If there is more packages than prompts, additionnal prompts will be ignored.
+    If there is more packages than prompts, additional prompts will be ignored.
   community.general.pear:
     name: pecl/gnupg, pecl/apcu
     state: present
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ EXAMPLES = r'''
 - name: Install multiple pear/pecl packages at once skipping the first prompt.
     Prompts will be processed on the same order as the packages order.
     If there is more prompts than packages, packages without prompts will be installed without any prompt expected.
-    If there is more packages than prompts, additionnal prompts will be ignored.
+    If there is more packages than prompts, additional prompts will be ignored.
   community.general.pear:
     name: pecl/gnupg, pecl/apcu
     state: present

plugins/modules/redhat_subscription.py

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ notes:
       C(subscription-manager) itself gets credentials only as arguments of command line
       parameters, which is I(not) secure, as they can be easily stolen by checking the
       process listing on the system. Due to limitations of the D-Bus interface of C(rhsm),
-      the module will I(not) use D-Bus for registation when trying either to register
+      the module will I(not) use D-Bus for registration when trying either to register
       using O(token), or when specifying O(environment), or when the system is old
       (typically RHEL 6 and older).
     - In order to register a system, subscription-manager requires either a username and password, or an activationkey and an Organization ID.

plugins/modules/redis.py

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ options:
     value:
         description:
             - A redis config value. When memory size is needed, it is possible
-              to specify it in the usal form of 1KB, 2M, 400MB where the base is 1024.
+              to specify it in the usual form of 1KB, 2M, 400MB where the base is 1024.
               Units are case insensitive i.e. 1m = 1mb = 1M = 1MB.
         type: str
 

plugins/modules/rundeck_acl_policy.py

@@ -108,11 +108,11 @@ rundeck_response:
     returned: failed
     type: str
 before:
-    description: Dictionary containing ACL policy informations before modification.
+    description: Dictionary containing ACL policy information before modification.
     returned: success
     type: dict
 after:
-    description: Dictionary containing ACL policy informations after modification.
+    description: Dictionary containing ACL policy information after modification.
     returned: success
     type: dict
 '''

plugins/modules/scaleway_container.py

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ options:
   secret_environment_variables:
     description:
       - Secret environment variables of the container namespace.
-      - Updating thoses values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
+      - Updating those values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
       - Injected in container at runtime.
     type: dict
     default: {}

plugins/modules/scaleway_container_namespace.py

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ options:
   secret_environment_variables:
     description:
       - Secret environment variables of the container namespace.
-      - Updating thoses values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
+      - Updating those values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
       - Injected in containers at runtime.
     type: dict
     default: {}

plugins/modules/scaleway_container_registry.py

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ options:
   state:
     type: str
     description:
-      - Indicate desired state of the container regitry.
+      - Indicate desired state of the container registry.
     default: present
     choices:
       - present

plugins/modules/scaleway_function.py

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ options:
   secret_environment_variables:
     description:
       - Secret environment variables of the function.
-      - Updating thoses values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
+      - Updating those values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
       - Injected in function at runtime.
     type: dict
     default: {}

plugins/modules/scaleway_function_namespace.py

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ options:
   secret_environment_variables:
     description:
       - Secret environment variables of the function namespace.
-      - Updating thoses values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
+      - Updating those values will not output a C(changed) state in Ansible.
       - Injected in functions at runtime.
     type: dict
     default: {}

plugins/modules/spotinst_aws_elastigroup.py

@@ -266,14 +266,14 @@ options:
 
   opsworks:
     description:
-      - The elastigroup OpsWorks integration configration.;
+      - The elastigroup OpsWorks integration configuration.;
         Expects the following key -
         layer_id (String)
     type: dict
 
   persistence:
     description:
-      - The Stateful elastigroup configration.;
+      - The Stateful elastigroup configuration.;
         Accepts the following keys -
         should_persist_root_device (Boolean),
         should_persist_block_devices (Boolean),

plugins/modules/stacki_host.py

@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ options:
     default: present
   appliance:
     description:
-      - Applicance to be used in host creation.
+      - Appliance to be used in host creation.
       - Required if O(state=present) and host does not yet exist.
     type: str
     default: backend

plugins/modules/timezone.py

@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ class NosystemdTimezone(Timezone):
             filename: The name of the file to edit.
             regexp:   The regular expression to search with.
             value:    The line which will be inserted.
-            key:      For what key the file is being editted.
+            key:      For what key the file is being edited.
         """
         # Read the file
         try:
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ class BSDTimezone(Timezone):
         localtime_file = '/etc/localtime'
 
         # Strategy 1:
-        #   If /etc/localtime does not exist, assum the timezone is UTC.
+        #   If /etc/localtime does not exist, assume the timezone is UTC.
         if not os.path.exists(localtime_file):
             self.module.warn('Could not read /etc/localtime. Assuming UTC.')
             return 'UTC'

plugins/modules/utm_proxy_location.py

@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ result:
             description: The list of the denied network names
             type: list
         hot_standby:
-            description: Use hot standy
+            description: Use hot standby
             type: bool
         path:
             description: Path name

plugins/modules/utm_proxy_location_info.py

@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ result:
             description: The list of the denied network names
             type: list
         hot_standby:
-            description: Use hot standy
+            description: Use hot standby
             type: bool
         path:
             description: Path name

plugins/modules/xenserver_facts.py

@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def change_keys(recs, key='uuid', filter_func=None):
 
         for param_name, param_value in rec.items():
             # param_value may be of type xmlrpc.client.DateTime,
-            # which is not simply convertable to str.
+            # which is not simply convertible to str.
             # Use 'value' attr to get the str value,
             # following an example in xmlrpc.client.DateTime document
             if hasattr(param_value, "value"):

plugins/modules/xenserver_guest.py

@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ notes:
   values V(none) and V(dhcp) have same effect. More info here:
   U(https://www.citrix.com/community/citrix-developer/citrix-hypervisor-developer/citrix-hypervisor-developing-products/citrix-hypervisor-staticip.html)'
 - 'On platforms without official support for network configuration inside a guest OS, network parameters will be written to xenstore
-  C(vm-data/networks/<vif_device>) key. Parameters can be inspected by using C(xenstore ls) and C(xenstore read) tools on \*nix guests or trough
+  C(vm-data/networks/<vif_device>) key. Parameters can be inspected by using C(xenstore ls) and C(xenstore read) tools on \*nix guests or through
   WMI interface on Windows guests. They can also be found in VM facts C(instance.xenstore_data) key as returned by the module. It is up to the user
   to implement a boot time scripts or custom agent that will read the parameters from xenstore and configure network with given parameters.
   Take note that for xenstore data to become available inside a guest, a VM restart is needed hence module will require VM restart if any
-  parameter is changed. This is a limitation of XenAPI and xenstore. Considering these limitations, network configuration trough xenstore is most
-  useful for bootstraping newly deployed VMs, much less for reconfiguring existing ones. More info here:
+  parameter is changed. This is a limitation of XenAPI and xenstore. Considering these limitations, network configuration through xenstore is most
+  useful for bootstrapping newly deployed VMs, much less for reconfiguring existing ones. More info here:
   U(https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX226713)'
 requirements:
 - python >= 2.6
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ options:
   custom_params:
     description:
     - Define a list of custom VM params to set on VM.
-    - Useful for advanced users familiar with managing VM params trough xe CLI.
+    - Useful for advanced users familiar with managing VM params through xe CLI.
     - A custom value object takes two fields O(custom_params[].key) and O(custom_params[].value) (see example below).
     type: list
     elements: dict
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ options:
     default: false
   state_change_timeout:
     description:
-    - 'By default, module will wait indefinitely for VM to accquire an IP address if O(wait_for_ip_address=true).'
+    - 'By default, module will wait indefinitely for VM to acquire an IP address if O(wait_for_ip_address=true).'
     - If this parameter is set to positive value, the module will instead wait specified number of seconds for the state change.
     - In case of timeout, module will generate an error message.
     type: int
@@ -990,7 +990,7 @@ class XenServerVM(XenServerObject):
                                     vif_device = vm_vif_params['device']
 
                                     # A user could have manually changed network
-                                    # or mac e.g. trough XenCenter and then also
+                                    # or mac e.g. through XenCenter and then also
                                     # make those changes in playbook manually.
                                     # In that case, module will not detect any
                                     # changes and info in xenstore_data will

plugins/modules/xfconf.py

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ options:
         be equal to the length of O(value).
       - If only one O(value_type) is provided, but O(value) contains more than
         on element, that O(value_type) will be applied to all elements of O(value).
-      - If the O(property) being set is an array and it can possibly have ony one
+      - If the O(property) being set is an array and it can possibly have only one
         element in the array, then O(force_array=true) must be used to ensure
         that C(xfconf-query) will interpret the value as an array rather than a
         scalar.