dim: implicit passing/handling of url variable

[Emil Velikov]

Hi all,

Many of the functions would define a local url, yet pull the contents
of variable, implicitly from the parent function.

Take url_to_remote() for example:
 - takes a variable list of URLs - $*
 - checks if there's at least one URL passed to the function
 - uses $url from the parent to iterate through the URLs ... doesn't use $*
 - prints an error via $*
 - picks the first URL and stores it in the url variable

Quick skim shows that other functions do the same thing. I cannot spot
anything that would mention why or point out this (imho unusual)
design decision.
Is that intentional? Did i completely misunderstood the code?

Can we avoid doing that - as-is the code is fairly hard to follow :-\

Any input will be appreciated.

Thanks
Emil