Not quite matching your spec but here you go. I implemented as much as I would use...
my %path;
my ($high, $low) = (0,0);
for (split /:/, $ENV{PATH} ){
next if exists $path{$_}; # remove duplicates
$path{$_} = $high;
++$high;
}
for (@ARGV){
/^-(.*)/ and do {delete $path{$1} if exists $path{$1}; next;};
/^\+\+(.*)/ and do {--$low; $path{$1}=$low unless exists $path{$1};
+next;};
/^\+(.*)/ and do {++$high; $path{$1}=$high unless exists $path{$1};
+next;};
}
print join ":", sort {$path{$a} <=> $path{$b} } keys %path;
print "\n";
--
Murray Barton
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought. -Basho