Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

An in-depth exploration of the gentle art of
shell scripting
Mendel Cooper

Brindle-Phlogiston Associates

[email protected]

16 June 2002

Revision History
Revision 0.1 14 June 2000 Revised by: mc
Initial release.
Revision 0.2 30 October 2000 Revised by: mc
Bugs fixed, plus much additional material and more example scripts.
Revision 0.3 12 February 2001 Revised by: mc
Another major update.
Revision 0.4 08 July 2001 Revised by: mc
More bugfixes, much more material, more scripts - a complete revision and expansion of
the book.
Revision 0.5 03 September 2001 Revised by: mc
Major update. Bugfixes, material added, chapters and sections reorganized.
Revision 1.0 14 October 2001 Revised by: mc
Bugfixes, reorganization, material added. Stable release.
Revision 1.1 06 January 2002 Revised by: mc
Bugfixes, material and scripts added.
Revision 1.2 31 March 2002 Revised by: mc
Bugfixes, material and scripts added.
Revision 1.3 02 June 2002 Revised by: mc

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Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

'TANGERINE' release: A few bugfixes, much more material and scripts added.
Revision 1.4 16 June 2002 Revised by: mc
'MANGO' release: Quite a number of typos fixed, more material and scripts added.

This tutorial assumes no previous knowledge of scripting or programming, but progresses

rapidly toward an intermediate/advanced level of instruction ...all the while sneaking in little
snippets of UNIX wisdom and lore. It serves as a textbook, a manual for self-study, and a
reference and source of knowledge on shell scripting techniques. The exercises and heavily-
commented examples invite active reader participation, under the premise that the only
way to really learn scripting is to write scripts.

The latest update of this document, as an archived, bzip2-ed "tarball" including both the
SGML source and rendered HTML, may be downloaded from the author's home site. See
the change log for a revision history.

Dedication
For Anita, the source of all the magic

Table of Contents
Part 1. Introduction
1. Why Shell Programming?
2. Starting Off With a Sha-Bang
Part 2. Basics
3. Exit and Exit Status
4. Special Characters
5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters
6. Quoting
7. Tests
8. Operations and Related Topics
Part 3. Beyond the Basics
9. Variables Revisited
10. Loops and Branches
11. Internal Commands and Builtins

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Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

12. External Filters, Programs and Commands

13. System and Administrative Commands
14. Command Substitution
15. Arithmetic Expansion
16. I/O Redirection
17. Here Documents
18. Recess Time
Part 4. Advanced Topics
19. Regular Expressions
20. Subshells
21. Restricted Shells
22. Process Substitution
23. Functions
24. Aliases
25. List Constructs
26. Arrays
27. Files
28. /dev and /proc
29. Of Zeros and Nulls
30. Debugging
31. Options
32. Gotchas
33. Scripting With Style
34. Miscellany
35. Bash, version 2
36. Endnotes
36.1. Author's Note
36.2. About the Author
36.3. Tools Used to Produce This Book
36.4. Credits
Bibliography
A. Contributed Scripts
B. A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer
B.1. Sed
B.2. Awk
C. Exit Codes With Special Meanings

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D. A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O Redirection

E. Localization
F. History Commands
G. A Sample .bashrc File
H. Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts
I. Exercises
I.1. Analyzing Scripts
I.2. Writing Scripts
J. Copyright

List of Tables
11-1. Job Identifiers
31-1. bash options
B-1. Basic sed operators
B-2. Examples
C-1. "Reserved" Exit Codes
H-1. Batch file keywords / variables / operators, and their shell equivalents
H-2. DOS Commands and Their UNIX Equivalents

List of Examples
2-1. cleanup: A script to clean up the log files in /var/log
2-2. cleanup: An enhanced and generalized version of above script.
3-1. exit / exit status
3-2. Negating a condition using !
4-1. Code blocks and I/O redirection
4-2. Saving the results of a code block to a file
4-3. Running a loop in the background
4-4. Backup of all files changed in last day
5-1. Variable assignment and substitution
5-2. Plain Variable Assignment
5-3. Variable Assignment, plain and fancy
5-4. Integer or string?
5-5. Positional Parameters
5-6. wh, whois domain name lookup
5-7. Using shift
6-1. Echoing Weird Variables

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6-2. Escaped Characters

7-1. What is truth?
7-2. Equivalence of test, /usr/bin/test, [ ], and /usr/bin/[
7-3. Arithmetic Tests using (( ))
7-4. arithmetic and string comparisons
7-5. testing whether a string is null
7-6. zmost
8-1. Greatest common divisor
8-2. Using Arithmetic Operations
8-3. Compound Condition Tests Using && and ||
8-4. Representation of numerical constants:
9-1. $IFS and whitespace
9-2. Timed Input
9-3. Once more, timed input
9-4. Timed read
9-5. Am I root?
9-6. arglist: Listing arguments with $* and $@
9-7. Inconsistent $* and $@ behavior
9-8. $* and $@ when $IFS is empty
9-9. underscore variable
9-10. Converting graphic file formats, with filename change
9-11. Alternate ways of extracting substrings
9-12. Using param substitution and :
9-13. Length of a variable
9-14. Pattern matching in parameter substitution
9-15. Renaming file extensions:
9-16. Using pattern matching to parse arbitrary strings
9-17. Matching patterns at prefix or suffix of string
9-18. Using declare to type variables
9-19. Indirect References
9-20. Passing an indirect reference to awk
9-21. Generating random numbers
9-22. Rolling the die with RANDOM
9-23. Reseeding RANDOM
9-24. Pseudorandom numbers, using awk
9-25. C-type manipulation of variables

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10-1. Simple for loops

10-2. for loop with two parameters in each [list] element
10-3. Fileinfo: operating on a file list contained in a variable
10-4. Operating on files with a for loop
10-5. Missing in [list] in a for loop
10-6. Generating the [list] in a for loop with command substitution
10-7. A grep replacement for binary files
10-8. Listing all users on the system
10-9. Checking all the binaries in a directory for authorship
10-10. Listing the symbolic links in a directory
10-11. Symbolic links in a directory, saved to a file
10-12. A C-like for loop
10-13. Using efax in batch mode
10-14. Simple while loop
10-15. Another while loop
10-16. while loop with multiple conditions
10-17. C-like syntax in a while loop
10-18. until loop
10-19. Nested Loop
10-20. Effects of break and continue in a loop
10-21. Breaking out of multiple loop levels
10-22. Continuing at a higher loop level
10-23. Using case
10-24. Creating menus using case
10-25. Using command substitution to generate the case variable
10-26. Simple string matching
10-27. Checking for alphabetic input
10-28. Creating menus using select
10-29. Creating menus using select in a function
11-1. printf in action
11-2. Variable assignment, using read
11-3. What happens when read has no variable
11-4. Multi-line input to read
11-5. Using read with file redirection
11-6. Changing the current working directory
11-7. Letting let do some arithmetic.

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11-8. Showing the effect of eval

11-9. Forcing a log-off
11-10. A version of "rot13"
11-11. Using set with positional parameters
11-12. Reassigning the positional parameters
11-13. "unsetting" a variable
11-14. Using export to pass a variable to an embedded awk script
11-15. Using getopts to read the options/arguments passed to a script
11-16. "Including" a data file
11-17. Effects of exec
11-18. A script that exec's itself
11-19. Waiting for a process to finish before proceeding
11-20. A script that kills itself
12-1. Using ls to create a table of contents for burning a CDR disk
12-2. Badname, eliminate file names in current directory containing bad characters and
whitespace.
12-3. Deleting a file by its inode number
12-4. Logfile using xargs to monitor system log
12-5. copydir, copying files in current directory to another, using xargs
12-6. Using expr
12-7. Using date
12-8. Word Frequency Analysis
12-9. Which files are scripts?
12-10. Generating 10-digit random numbers
12-11. Using tail to monitor the system log
12-12. Emulating "grep" in a script
12-13. Checking words in a list for validity
12-14. toupper: Transforms a file to all uppercase.
12-15. lowercase: Changes all filenames in working directory to lowercase.
12-16. du: DOS to UNIX text file conversion.
12-17. rot13: rot13, ultra-weak encryption.
12-18. Generating "Crypto-Quote" Puzzles
12-19. Formatted file listing.
12-20. Using column to format a directory listing
12-21. nl: A self-numbering script.
12-22. Using cpio to move a directory tree

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12-23. Unpacking an rpm archive

12-24. stripping comments from C program files
12-25. Exploring /usr/X11R6/bin
12-26. An "improved" strings command
12-27. Using cmp to compare two files within a script.
12-28. basename and dirname
12-29. Checking file integrity
12-30. uudecoding encoded files
12-31. A script that mails itself
12-32. Monthly Payment on a Mortgage
12-33. Base Conversion
12-34. Another way to invoke bc
12-35. Converting a decimal number to hexadecimal
12-36. Factoring
12-37. Calculating the hypotenuse of a triangle
12-38. Using seq to generate loop arguments
12-39. Using getopt to parse command-line options
12-40. Capturing Keystrokes
12-41. Securely deleting a file
12-42. Using m4
13-1. setting an erase character
13-2. secret password: Turning off terminal echoing
13-3. Keypress detection
13-4. pidof helps kill a process
13-5. Checking a CD image
13-6. Creating a filesystem in a file
13-7. Adding a new hard drive
13-8. killall, from /etc/rc.d/init.d
14-1. Stupid script tricks
14-2. Generating a variable from a loop
16-1. Redirecting stdin using exec
16-2. Redirecting stdout using exec
16-3. Redirecting both stdin and stdout in the same script with exec
16-4. Redirected while loop
16-5. Alternate form of redirected while loop
16-6. Redirected until loop

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16-7. Redirected for loop

16-8. Redirected for loop (both stdin and stdout redirected)
16-9. Redirected if/then test
16-10. Data file "names.data" for above examples
16-11. Logging events
17-1. dummyfile: Creates a 2-line dummy file
17-2. broadcast: Sends message to everyone logged in
17-3. Multi-line message using cat
17-4. Multi-line message, with tabs suppressed
17-5. Here document with parameter substitution
17-6. Parameter substitution turned off
17-7. upload: Uploads a file pair to "Sunsite" incoming directory
17-8. Here documents and functions
17-9. "Anonymous" Here Document
17-10. Commenting out a block of code
17-11. A self-documenting script
20-1. Variable scope in a subshell
20-2. List User Profiles
20-3. Running parallel processes in subshells
21-1. Running a script in restricted mode
23-1. Simple function
23-2. Function Taking Parameters
23-3. Maximum of two numbers
23-4. Converting numbers to Roman numerals
23-5. Testing large return values in a function
23-6. Comparing two large integers
23-7. Real name from username
23-8. Local variable visibility
23-9. Recursion, using a local variable
24-1. Aliases within a script
24-2. unalias: Setting and unsetting an alias
25-1. Using an "and list" to test for command-line arguments
25-2. Another command-line arg test using an "and list"
25-3. Using "or lists" in combination with an "and list"
26-1. Simple array usage
26-2. Some special properties of arrays

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26-3. Of empty arrays and empty elements

26-4. An old friend: The Bubble Sort
26-5. Complex array application: Sieve of Eratosthenes
26-6. Emulating a push-down stack
26-7. Complex array application: Exploring a weird mathematical series
26-8. Simulating a two-dimensional array, then tilting it
28-1. Finding the process associated with a PID
28-2. On-line connect status
29-1. Hiding the cookie jar
29-2. Setting up a swapfile using /dev/zero
29-3. Creating a ramdisk
30-1. A buggy script
30-2. Missing keyword
30-3. test24, another buggy script
30-4. Testing a condition with an "assert"
30-5. Trapping at exit
30-6. Cleaning up after Control-C
30-7. Tracing a variable
32-1. Subshell Pitfalls
32-2. Piping the output of echo to a read
34-1. shell wrapper
34-2. A slightly more complex shell wrapper
34-3. A shell wrapper around an awk script
34-4. Perl embedded in a Bash script
34-5. Bash and Perl scripts combined
34-6. Return value trickery
34-7. Even more return value trickery
34-8. Passing and returning arrays
34-9. A (useless) script that recursively calls itself
34-10. A (useful) script that recursively calls itself
35-1. String expansion
35-2. Indirect variable references - the new way
35-3. Simple database application, using indirect variable referencing
35-4. Using arrays and other miscellaneous trickery to deal four random hands from a deck
of cards
A-1. manview: Viewing formatted manpages

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A-2. mailformat: Formatting an e-mail message

A-3. rn: A simple-minded file rename utility
A-4. blank-rename: renames filenames containing blanks
A-5. encryptedpw: Uploading to an ftp site, using a locally encrypted password
A-6. copy-cd: Copying a data CD
A-7. Collatz series
A-8. days-between: Calculate number of days between two dates
A-9. Make a "dictionary"
A-10. "Game of Life"
A-11. Data file for "Game of Life"
A-12. behead: Removing mail and news message headers
A-13. ftpget: Downloading files via ftp
A-14. password: Generating random 8-character passwords
A-15. fifo: Making daily backups, using named pipes
A-16. Generating prime numbers using the modulo operator
A-17. tree: Displaying a directory tree
A-18. string functions: C-like string functions
A-19. Object-oriented database
G-1. Sample .bashrc file
H-1. VIEWDATA.BAT: DOS Batch File
H-2. viewdata.sh: Shell Script Conversion of VIEWDATA.BAT

Next
Introduction

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File and Archiving Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.5. File and Archiving Commands

Archiving

tar

The standard UNIX archiving utility. Originally a Tape ARchiving program, it has developed into a general purpose package that
can handle all manner of archiving with all types of destination devices, ranging from tape drives to regular files to even
stdout (see Example 4-4). GNU tar has been patched to accept various compression filters, such as tar czvf
archive_name.tar.gz *, which recursively archives and gzips all files in a directory tree except dotfiles in the current working
directory ($PWD). [1]

Some useful tar options:

1. -c create (a new archive)

2. -x extract (files from existing archive)
3. --delete delete (files from existing archive)

This option will not work on magnetic tape devices.

4. -r append (files to existing archive)
5. -A append (tar files to existing archive)
6. -t list (contents of existing archive)
7. -u update archive
8. -d compare archive with specified filesystem
9. -z gzip the archive

(compress or uncompress, depending on whether combined with the -c or -x) option

10. -j bzip2 the archive

It may be difficult to recover data from a corrupted gzipped tar archive. When archiving important files,
make multiple backups.
shar

Shell archiving utility. The files in a shell archive are concatenated without compression, and the resultant archive is essentially
a shell script, complete with #!/bin/sh header, and containing all the necessary unarchiving commands. Shar archives still show
up in Internet newsgroups, but otherwise shar has been pretty well replaced by tar/gzip. The unshar command unpacks shar
archives.
ar

Creation and manipulation utility for archives, mainly used for binary object file libraries.
cpio

This specialized archiving copy command (copy input and output) is rarely seen any more, having been supplanted by tar/gzip.
It still has its uses, such as moving a directory tree.

Example 12-22. Using cpio to move a directory tree

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File and Archiving Commands

#!/bin/bash

# Copying a directory tree using cpio.

ARGS=2
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` source destination"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

source=$1
destination=$2

find "$source" -depth | cpio -admvp "$destination"

# Read the man page to decipher these cpio options.

exit 0

Example 12-23. Unpacking an rpm archive

#!/bin/bash
# de-rpm.sh: Unpack an 'rpm' archive

E_NO_ARGS=65
TEMPFILE=$$.cpio # Tempfile with "unique" name.
# $$ is process ID of script.

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_NO_ARGS
fi

rpm2cpio < $1 > $TEMPFILE # Converts rpm archive into cpio archive.
cpio --make-directories -F $TEMPFILE -i # Unpacks cpio archive.
rm -f $TEMPFILE # Deletes cpio archive.

exit 0

Compression

gzip

The standard GNU/UNIX compression utility, replacing the inferior and proprietary compress. The corresponding
decompression command is gunzip, which is the equivalent of gzip -d.

The zcat filter decompresses a gzipped file to stdout, as possible input to a pipe or redirection. This is, in effect, a cat
command that works on compressed files (including files processed with the older compress utility). The zcat command is
equivalent to gzip -dc.

On some commercial UNIX systems, zcat is a synonym for uncompress -c, and will not work on gzipped files.

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File and Archiving Commands

See also Example 7-6.

bzip2

An alternate compression utility, usually more efficient (but slower) than gzip, especially on large files. The corresponding
decompression command is bunzip2.

Newer versions of tar have been patched with bzip2 support.

compress, uncompress

This is an older, proprietary compression utility found in commercial UNIX distributions. The more efficient gzip has largely
replaced it. Linux distributions generally include a compress workalike for compatibility, although gunzip can unarchive files
treated with compress.

The znew command transforms compressed files into gzipped ones.

sq

Yet another compression utility, a filter that works only on sorted ASCII word lists. It uses the standard invocation syntax for a
filter, sq < input-file > output-file. Fast, but not nearly as efficient as gzip. The corresponding uncompression filter is unsq,
invoked like sq.

The output of sq may be piped to gzip for further compression.

zip, unzip

Cross-platform file archiving and compression utility compatible with DOS pkzip.exe. "Zipped" archives seem to be a more
acceptable medium of exchange on the Internet than "tarballs".
unarc, unarj, unrar

These Linux utilities permit unpacking archives compressed with the DOS arc.exe, arj.exe, and rar.exe programs.

File Information

file

A utility for identifying file types. The command file file-name will return a file specification for file-name, such as
ascii text or data. It references the magic numbers found in /usr/share/magic, /etc/magic, or
/usr/lib/magic, depending on the Linux/UNIX distribution.

The -f option causes file to run in batch mode, to read from a designated file a list of filenames to analyze. The -z option,
when used on a compressed target file, forces an attempt to analyze the uncompressed file type.

bash$ file test.tar.gz

test.tar.gz: gzip compressed data, deflated, last modified: Sun Sep 16 13:34:51 2001,
os: Unix

bash file -z test.tar.gz

test.tar.gz: GNU tar archive (gzip compressed data, deflated, last modified: Sun Sep
16 13:34:51 2001, os: Unix)

Example 12-24. stripping comments from C program files

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#!/bin/bash
# strip-comment.sh: Strips out the comments (/* COMMENT */) in a C program.

E_NOARGS=65
E_ARGERROR=66
E_WRONG_FILE_TYPE=67

if [ $# -eq "$E_NOARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` C-program-file" >&2 # Error message to stderr.
exit $E_ARGERROR
fi

# Test for correct file type.

type=`eval file $1 | awk '{ print $2, $3, $4, $5 }'`
# "file $1" echoes file type...
# then awk removes the first field of this, the filename...
# then the result is fed into the variable "type".
correct_type="ASCII C program text"

if [ "$type" != "$correct_type" ]
then
echo
echo "This script works on C program files only."
echo
exit $E_WRONG_FILE_TYPE
fi

# Rather cryptic sed script:

#--------
sed '
/^\/\*/d
/.*\/\*/d
' $1
#--------
# Easy to understand if you take several hours to learn sed fundamentals.

# Need to add one more line to the sed script to deal with
#+ case where line of code has a comment following it on same line.
# This is left as a non-trivial exercise.

# Also, the above code deletes lines with a "*/" or "/*",

# not a desirable result.

exit 0

# ----------------------------------------------------------------
# Code below this line will not execute because of 'exit 0' above.

# Stephane Chazelas suggests the following alternative:

usage() {
echo "Usage: `basename $0` C-program-file" >&2
exit 1
}

WEIRD=`echo -n -e '\377'` # or WEIRD=$'\377'

[[ $# -eq 1 ]] || usage

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File and Archiving Commands

case `file "$1"` in

*"C program text"*) sed -e "s%/\*%${WEIRD}%g;s%\*/%${WEIRD}%g" "$1" \
| tr '\377\n' '\n\377' \
| sed -ne 'p;n' \
| tr -d '\n' | tr '\377' '\n';;
*) usage;;
esac

# This is still fooled by things like:

# printf("/*");
# or
# /* /* buggy embedded comment */
#
# To handle all special cases (comments in strings, comments in string
# where there is a \", \\" ...) the only way is to write a C parser
# (lex or yacc perhaps?).

exit 0

which

which command-xxx gives the full path to "command-xxx". This is useful for finding out whether a particular command or
utility is installed on the system.

$bash which rm

/usr/bin/rm

whereis

Similar to which, above, whereis command-xxx gives the full path to "command-xxx", but also to its manpage.

$bash whereis rm

rm: /bin/rm /usr/share/man/man1/rm.1.bz2

whatis

whatis filexxx looks up "filexxx" in the whatis database. This is useful for identifying system commands and important
configuration files. Consider it a simplified man command.

$bash whatis whatis

whatis (1) - search the whatis database for complete words

Example 12-25. Exploring /usr/X11R6/bin

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File and Archiving Commands

#!/bin/bash

# What are all those mysterious binaries in /usr/X11R6/bin?

DIRECTORY="/usr/X11R6/bin"
# Try also "/bin", "/usr/bin", "/usr/local/bin", etc.

for file in $DIRECTORY/*

do
whatis `basename $file` # Echoes info about the binary.
done

exit 0
# You may wish to redirect output of this script, like so:
# ./what.sh >>whatis.db
# or view it a page at a time on stdout,
# ./what.sh | less

See also Example 10-3.

vdir

Show a detailed directory listing. The effect is similar to ls -l.

This is one of the GNU fileutils.

bash$ vdir
total 10
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4034 Jul 18 22:04 data1.xrolo
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4602 May 25 13:58 data1.xrolo.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 877 Dec 17 2000 employment.xrolo

bash ls -l
total 10
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4034 Jul 18 22:04 data1.xrolo
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4602 May 25 13:58 data1.xrolo.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 877 Dec 17 2000 employment.xrolo

shred

Securely erase a file by overwriting it multiple times with random bit patterns before deleting it. This command has the same
effect as Example 12-41, but does it in a more thorough and elegant manner.

This is one of the GNU fileutils.

Using shred on a file may not prevent recovery of some or all of its contents using advanced forensic technology.
locate, slocate

The locate command searches for files using a database stored for just that purpose. The slocate command is the secure version
of locate (which may be aliased to slocate).

$bash locate hickson

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/usr/lib/xephem/catalogs/hickson.edb

strings

Use the strings command to find printable strings in a binary or data file. It will list sequences of printable characters found in
the target file. This might be handy for a quick 'n dirty examination of a core dump or for looking at an unknown graphic image
file (strings image-file | more might show something like JFIF, which would identify the file as a jpeg graphic). In
a script, you would probably parse the output of strings with grep or sed. See Example 10-7 and Example 10-9.

Example 12-26. An "improved" strings command

#!/bin/bash
# wstrings.sh: "word-strings" (enhanced "strings" command)
#
# This script filters the output of "strings" by checking it
#+ against a standard word list file.
# This effectively eliminates all the gibberish and noise,
#+ and outputs only recognized words.

# =================================================================
# Standard Check for Script Argument(s)
ARGS=1
E_BADARGS=65
E_NOFILE=66

if [ $# -ne $ARGS ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ -f "$1" ] # Check if file exists.

then
file_name=$1
else
echo "File \"$1\" does not exist."
exit $E_NOFILE
fi
# =================================================================

MINSTRLEN=3 # Minimum string length.

WORDFILE=/usr/share/dict/linux.words # Dictionary file.
# May specify a different
#+ word list file
#+ of format 1 word per line.

wlist=`strings "$1" | tr A-Z a-z | tr '[:space:]' Z | \

tr -cs '[:alpha:]' Z | tr -s '\173-\377' Z | tr Z ' '`

# Translate output of 'strings' command with multiple passes of 'tr'.

# "tr A-Z a-z" converts to lowercase.
# "tr '[:space:]'" converts whitespace characters to Z's.
# "tr -cs '[:alpha:]' Z" converts non-alphabetic characters to Z's,
#+ and squeezes multiple consecutive Z's.
# "tr -s '\173-\377' Z" converts all characters past 'z' to Z's

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#+ and squeezes multiple consecutive Z's,

#+ which gets rid of all the weird characters that the previous
#+ translation failed to deal with.
# Finally, "tr Z ' '" converts all those Z's to whitespace,
#+ which will be seen as word separators in the loop below.

# Note the technique of feeding the output of 'tr' back to itself,

#+ but with different arguments and/or options on each pass.

for word in $wlist # Important:

# $wlist must not be quoted here.
# "$wlist" does not work.
# Why?
do

strlen=${#word} # String length.

if [ "$strlen" -lt "$MINSTRLEN" ] # Skip over short strings.
then
continue
fi

grep -Fw $word "$WORDFILE" # Match whole words only.

done

exit 0

Comparison

diff, patch

diff: flexible file comparison utility. It compares the target files line-by-line sequentially. In some applications, such as
comparing word dictionaries, it may be helpful to filter the files through sort and uniq before piping them to diff. diff file-
1 file-2 outputs the lines in the files that differ, with carets showing which file each particular line belongs to.

The --side-by-side option to diff outputs each compared file, line by line, in separate columns, with non-matching lines
marked.

There are available various fancy frontends for diff, such as spiff, wdiff, xdiff, and mgdiff.

The diff command returns an exit status of 0 if the compared files are identical, and 1 if they differ. This permits
use of diff in a test construct within a shell script (see below).

A common use for diff is generating difference files to be used with patch The -e option outputs files suitable for ed or ex scripts.

patch: flexible versioning utility. Given a difference file generated by diff, patch can upgrade a previous version of a package to a
newer version. It is much more convenient to distribute a relatively small "diff" file than the entire body of a newly revised package.
Kernel "patches" have become the preferred method of distributing the frequent releases of the Linux kernel.

patch -p1 <patch-file

# Takes all the changes listed in 'patch-file'
# and applies them to the files referenced therein.
# This upgrades to a newer version of the package.

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Patching the kernel:

cd /usr/src
gzip -cd patchXX.gz | patch -p0
# Upgrading kernel source using 'patch'.
# From the Linux kernel docs "README",
# by anonymous author (Alan Cox?).

The diff command can also recursively compare directories (for the filenames present).

bash$ diff -r ~/notes1 ~/notes2

Only in /home/bozo/notes1: file02
Only in /home/bozo/notes1: file03
Only in /home/bozo/notes2: file04

Use zdiff to compare gzipped files.

diff3

An extended version of diff that compares three files at a time. This command returns an exit value of 0 upon successful
execution, but unfortunately this gives no information about the results of the comparison.

bash$ diff3 file-1 file-2 file-3

====
1:1c
This is line 1 of "file-1".
2:1c
This is line 1 of "file-2".
3:1c
This is line 1 of "file-3"

sdiff

Compare and/or edit two files in order to merge them into an output file. Because of its interactive nature, this command would
find little use in a script.
cmp

The cmp command is a simpler version of diff, above. Whereas diff reports the differences between two files, cmp merely
shows at what point they differ.

Like diff, cmp returns an exit status of 0 if the compared files are identical, and 1 if they differ. This permits use
in a test construct within a shell script.

Example 12-27. Using cmp to compare two files within a script.

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#!/bin/bash

ARGS=2 # Two args to script expected.

E_BADARGS=65
E_UNREADABLE=66

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` file1 file2"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [[ ! -r "$1" || ! -r "$2" ]]
then
echo "Both files to be compared must exist and be readable."
exit $E_UNREADABLE
fi

cmp $1 $2 &> /dev/null # /dev/null buries the output of the "cmp" command.
# Also works with 'diff', i.e., diff $1 $2 &> /dev/null

if [ $? -eq 0 ] # Test exit status of "cmp" command.

then
echo "File \"$1\" is identical to file \"$2\"."
else
echo "File \"$1\" differs from file \"$2\"."
fi

exit 0

Use zcmp on gzipped files.

comm

Versatile file comparison utility. The files must be sorted for this to be useful.

comm -options first-file second-file

comm file-1 file-2 outputs three columns:

❍ column 1 = lines unique to file-1

❍ column 2 = lines unique to file-2

❍ column 3 = lines common to both.

The options allow suppressing output of one or more columns.

❍ -1 suppresses column 1

❍ -2 suppresses column 2

❍ -3 suppresses column 3

❍ -12 suppresses both columns 1 and 2, etc.

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Utilities

basename

Strips the path information from a file name, printing only the file name. The construction basename $0 lets the script know
its name, that is, the name it was invoked by. This can be used for "usage" messages if, for example a script is called with
missing arguments:

echo "Usage: `basename $0` arg1 arg2 ... argn"

dirname

Strips the basename from a filename, printing only the path information.

basename and dirname can operate on any arbitrary string. The argument does not need to refer to an existing
file, or even be a filename for that matter (see Example A-8).

Example 12-28. basename and dirname

#!/bin/bash

a=/home/bozo/daily-journal.txt

echo "Basename of /home/bozo/daily-journal.txt = `basename $a`"

echo "Dirname of /home/bozo/daily-journal.txt = `dirname $a`"
echo
echo "My own home is `basename ~/`." # Also works with just ~.
echo "The home of my home is `dirname ~/`." # Also works with just ~.

exit 0

split

Utility for splitting a file into smaller chunks. Usually used for splitting up large files in order to back them up on floppies or
preparatory to e-mailing or uploading them.

sum, cksum, md5sum

These are utilities for generating checksums. A checksum is a number mathematically calculated from the contents of a file, for
the purpose of checking its integrity. A script might refer to a list of checksums for security purposes, such as ensuring that the
contents of key system files have not been altered or corrupted. For security applications, use the 128-bit md5sum (message
digest checksum) command.

bash$ cksum /boot/vmlinuz

1670054224 804083 /boot/vmlinuz

bash$ md5sum /boot/vmlinuz

0f43eccea8f09e0a0b2b5cf1dcf333ba /boot/vmlinuz

Note that cksum also shows the size, in bytes, of the target file.

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Example 12-29. Checking file integrity

#!/bin/bash
# file-integrity.sh: Checking whether files in a given directory
# have been tampered with.

E_DIR_NOMATCH=70
E_BAD_DBFILE=71

dbfile=File_record.md5
# Filename for storing records.

set_up_database ()
{
echo ""$directory"" > "$dbfile"
# Write directory name to first line of file.
md5sum "$directory"/* >> "$dbfile"
# Append md5 checksums and filenames.
}

check_database ()
{
local n=0
local filename
local checksum

# ------------------------------------------- #
# This file check should be unnecessary,
#+ but better safe than sorry.

if [ ! -r "$dbfile" ]
then
echo "Unable to read checksum database file!"
exit $E_BAD_DBFILE
fi
# ------------------------------------------- #

while read record[n]

do

directory_checked="${record[0]}"
if [ "$directory_checked" != "$directory" ]
then
echo "Directories do not match up!"
# Tried to use file for a different directory.
exit $E_DIR_NOMATCH
fi

if [ "$n" -gt 0 ] # Not directory name.

then
filename[n]=$( echo ${record[$n]} | awk '{ print $2 }' )
# md5sum writes records backwards,
#+ checksum first, then filename.
checksum[n]=$( md5sum "${filename[n]}" )

if [ "${record[n]}" = "${checksum[n]}" ]
then
echo "${filename[n]} unchanged."
else

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echo "${filename[n]} : CHECKSUM ERROR!"

# File has been changed since last checked.
fi

fi

let "n+=1"
done <"$dbfile" # Read from checksum database file.

# =================================================== #
# main ()

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
directory="$PWD" # If not specified,
else #+ use current working directory.
directory="$1"
fi

clear # Clear screen.

# ------------------------------------------------------------------ #
if [ ! -r "$dbfile" ] # Need to create database file?
then
echo "Setting up database file, \""$directory"/"$dbfile"\"."; echo
set_up_database
fi
# ------------------------------------------------------------------ #

check_database # Do the actual work.

echo

# You may wish to redirect the stdout of this script to a file,

#+ especially if the directory checked has many files in it.

# For a much more thorough file integrity check,

#+ consider the "Tripwire" package,
#+ http://sourceforge.net/projects/tripwire/.

exit 0

Encoding and Encryption

uuencode

This utility encodes binary files into ASCII characters, making them suitable for transmission in the body of an e-mail message
or in a newsgroup posting.
uudecode

This reverses the encoding, decoding uuencoded files back into the original binaries.

Example 12-30. uudecoding encoded files

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#!/bin/bash

lines=35 # Allow 35 lines for the header (very generous).

for File in * # Test all the files in the current working directory...
do
search1=`head -$lines $File | grep begin | wc -w`
search2=`tail -$lines $File | grep end | wc -w`
# Uuencoded files have a "begin" near the beginning,
#+ and an "end" near the end.
if [ "$search1" -gt 0 ]
then
if [ "$search2" -gt 0 ]
then
echo "uudecoding - $File -"
uudecode $File
fi
fi
done

# Note that running this script upon itself fools it

#+ into thinking it is a uuencoded file,
#+ because it contains both "begin" and "end".

# Exercise:
# Modify this script to check for a newsgroup header.

exit 0

The fold -s command may be useful (possibly in a pipe) to process long uudecoded text messages downloaded
from Usenet newsgroups.
mimencode, mmencode

The mimencode and mmencode commands process multimedia-encoded e-mail attachments. Although mail user agents (such
as pine or kmail) normally handle this automatically, these particular utilities permit manipulating such attachments manually
from the command line or in a batch by means of a shell script.

crypt

At one time, this was the standard UNIX file encryption utility. [2] Politically motivated government regulations prohibiting the
export of encryption software resulted in the disappearance of crypt from much of the UNIX world, and it is still missing from
most Linux distributions. Fortunately, programmers have come up with a number of decent alternatives to it, among them the
author's very own cruft (see Example A-5).

Miscellaneous

make

Utility for building and compiling binary packages. This can also be used for any set of operations that is triggered by
incremental changes in source files.

The make command checks a Makefile, a list of file dependencies and operations to be carried out.
install

Special purpose file copying command, similar to cp, but capable of setting permissions and attributes of the copied files. This
command seems tailormade for installing software packages, and as such it shows up frequently in Makefiles (in the make

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install : section). It could likewise find use in installation scripts.

ptx

The ptx [targetfile] command outputs a permuted index (cross-reference list) of the targetfile. This may be further filtered and
formatted in a pipe, if necessary.
more, less

Pagers that display a text file or stream to stdout, one screenful at a time. These may be used to filter the output of a script.

Notes

[1] A tar czvf archive_name.tar.gz * will include dotfiles in directories below the current working directory. This is an
undocumented GNU tar "feature".
[2] This is a symmetric block cipher, used to encrypt files on a single system or local network, as opposed to the "public key"
cipher class, of which pgp is a well-known example.

Prev Home Next

Text Processing Commands Up Communications Commands

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Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.4. Text Processing Commands

Commands affecting text and text files

sort

File sorter, often used as a filter in a pipe. This command sorts a text stream or file forwards or backwards, or according to
various keys or character positions. Using the -m option, it merges presorted input files. The info page lists its many
capabilities and options. See Example 10-9, Example 10-10, and Example A-9.
tsort

Topological sort, reading in pairs of whitespace-separated strings and sorting according to input patterns.
uniq

This filter removes duplicate lines from a sorted file. It is often seen in a pipe coupled with sort.

cat list-1 list-2 list-3 | sort | uniq > final.list

# Concatenates the list files,
# sorts them,
# removes duplicate lines,
# and finally writes the result to an output file.

The useful -c option prefixes each line of the input file with its number of occurrences.

bash$ cat testfile

This line occurs only once.
This line occurs twice.
This line occurs twice.
This line occurs three times.
This line occurs three times.
This line occurs three times.

bash$ uniq -c testfile

1 This line occurs only once.
2 This line occurs twice.
3 This line occurs three times.

bash$ sort testfile | uniq -c | sort -nr

3 This line occurs three times.
2 This line occurs twice.
1 This line occurs only once.

The sort INPUTFILE | uniq -c | sort -nr command string produces a frequency of occurrence listing on the
INPUTFILE file (the -nr options to sort cause a reverse numerical sort). This template finds use in analysis of log files

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and dictionary lists, and wherever the lexical structure of a document needs to be examined.

Example 12-8. Word Frequency Analysis

#!/bin/bash
# wf.sh: Crude word frequency analysis on a text file.

# Check for input file on command line.

ARGS=1
E_BADARGS=65
E_NOFILE=66

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # Correct number of arguments passed to script?

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ ! -f "$1" ] # Check if file exists.

then
echo "File \"$1\" does not exist."
exit $E_NOFILE
fi

########################################################
# main ()
sed -e 's/\.//g' -e 's/ /\
/g' "$1" | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr
# =========================
# Frequency of occurrence

# Filter out periods and

#+ change space between words to linefeed,
#+ then shift characters to lowercase, and
#+ finally prefix occurrence count and sort numerically.
########################################################

# Exercises:
# ---------
# 1) Add 'sed' commands to filter out other punctuation, such as commas.
# 2) Modify to also filter out multiple spaces and other whitespace.
# 3) Add a secondary sort key, so that instances of equal occurrence
#+ are sorted alphabetically.

exit 0

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bash$ cat testfile

This line occurs only once.
This line occurs twice.
This line occurs twice.
This line occurs three times.
This line occurs three times.
This line occurs three times.

bash$ ./wf.sh testfile

6 this
6 occurs
6 line
3 times
3 three
2 twice
1 only
1 once

expand, unexpand

The expand filter converts tabs to spaces. It is often used in a pipe.

The unexpand filter converts spaces to tabs. This reverses the effect of expand.
cut

A tool for extracting fields from files. It is similar to the print $N command set in awk, but more limited. It may be
simpler to use cut in a script than awk. Particularly important are the -d (delimiter) and -f (field specifier) options.

Using cut to obtain a listing of the mounted filesystems:

cat /etc/mtab | cut -d ' ' -f1,2

Using cut to list the OS and kernel version:

uname -a | cut -d" " -f1,3,11,12

Using cut to extract message headers from an e-mail folder:

bash$ grep '^Subject:' read-messages | cut -c10-80

Re: Linux suitable for mission-critical apps?
MAKE MILLIONS WORKING AT HOME!!!
Spam complaint
Re: Spam complaint

Using cut to parse a file:

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# List all the users in /etc/passwd.

FILENAME=/etc/passwd

for user in $(cut -d: -f1 $FILENAME)

do
echo $user
done

# Thanks, Oleg Philon for suggesting this.

cut -d ' ' -f2,3 filename is equivalent to awk -F'[ ]' '{ print $2, $3 }' filename

See also Example 12-33.

paste

Tool for merging together different files into a single, multi-column file. In combination with cut, useful for creating
system log files.
join

Consider this a special-purpose cousin of paste. This powerful utility allows merging two files in a meaningful fashion,
which essentially creates a simple version of a relational database.

The join command operates on exactly two files, but pastes together only those lines with a common tagged field (usually a
numerical label), and writes the result to stdout. The files to be joined should be sorted according to the tagged field for
the matchups to work properly.

File: 1.data

100 Shoes
200 Laces
300 Socks

File: 2.data

100 $40.00
200 $1.00
300 $2.00

bash$ join 1.data 2.data

File: 1.data 2.data

100 Shoes $40.00

200 Laces $1.00
300 Socks $2.00

The tagged field appears only once in the output.

head

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lists the beginning of a file to stdout (the default is 10 lines, but this can be changed). It has a number of interesting
options.

Example 12-9. Which files are scripts?

#!/bin/bash
# script-detector.sh: Detects scripts within a directory.

TESTCHARS=2 # Test first 2 characters.

SHABANG='#!' # Scripts begin with a "sha-bang."

for file in * # Traverse all the files in current directory.

do
if [[ `head -c$TESTCHARS "$file"` = "$SHABANG" ]]
# head -c2 #!
# The '-c' option to "head" outputs a specified
#+ number of characters, rather than lines (the default).
then
echo "File \"$file\" is a script."
else
echo "File \"$file\" is *not* a script."
fi
done

exit 0

Example 12-10. Generating 10-digit random numbers

#!/bin/bash
# rnd.sh: Outputs a 10-digit random number

# Script by Stephane Chazelas.

head -c4 /dev/urandom | od -N4 -tu4 | sed -ne '1s/.* //p'

# =================================================================== #

# Analysis
# --------

# head:
# -c4 option takes first 4 bytes.

# od:
# -N4 option limits output to 4 bytes.
# -tu4 option selects unsigned decimal format for output.

# sed:
# -n option, in combination with "p" flag to the "s" command,
# outputs only matched lines.

# The author of this script explains the action of 'sed', as follows.

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# head -c4 /dev/urandom | od -N4 -tu4 | sed -ne '1s/.* //p'

# ----------------------------------> |

# Assume output up to "sed" --------> |

# is 0000000 1198195154\n

# sed begins reading characters: 0000000 1198195154\n.

# Here it finds a newline character,
# so it is ready to process the first line (0000000 1198195154).
# It looks at its <range><action>s. The first and only one is

# range action
# 1 s/.* //p

# The line number is in the range, so it executes the action:

# tries to substitute the longest string ending with a space in the line
# ("0000000 ") with nothing (//), and if it succeeds, prints the result
# ("p" is a flag to the "s" command here, this is different from the "p" command).

# sed is now ready to continue reading its input. (Note that before
# continuing, if -n option had not been passed, sed would have printed
# the line once again).

# Now, sed reads the remainder of the characters, and finds the end of the file.
# It is now ready to process its 2nd line (which is also numbered '$' as
# it's the last one).
# It sees it is not matched by any <range>, so its job is done.

# In few word this sed commmand means:

# "On the first line only, remove any character up to the right-most space,
# then print it."

# A better way to do this would have been:

# sed -e 's/.* //;q'

# Here, two <range><action>s (could have been written

# sed -e 's/.* //' -e q):

# range action
# nothing (matches line) s/.* //
# nothing (matches line) q (quit)

# Here, sed only reads its first line of input.

# It performs both actions, and prints the line (substituted) before quitting
# (because of the "q" action) since the "-n" option is not passed.

# =================================================================== #

# A simpler altenative to the above 1-line script would be:

# head -c4 /dev/urandom| od -An -tu4

exit 0

See also Example 12-30.

tail

lists the end of a file to stdout (the default is 10 lines). Commonly used to keep track of changes to a system logfile,

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using the -f option, which outputs lines appended to the file.

Example 12-11. Using tail to monitor the system log

#!/bin/bash

filename=sys.log

cat /dev/null > $filename; echo "Creating / cleaning out file."

# Creates file if it does not already exist,
#+ and truncates it to zero length if it does.
# : > filename and > filename also work.

tail /var/log/messages > $filename

# /var/log/messages must have world read permission for this to work.

echo "$filename contains tail end of system log."

exit 0

See also Example 12-4, Example 12-30 and Example 30-6.

grep

A multi-purpose file search tool that uses regular expressions. It was originally a command/filter in the venerable ed line
editor, g/re/p, that is, global - regular expression - print.

grep pattern [file...]

Search the target file(s) for occurrences of pattern, where pattern may be literal text or a regular expression.

bash$ grep '[rst]ystem.$' osinfo.txt

The GPL governs the distribution of the Linux operating system.

If no target file(s) specified, grep works as a filter on stdout, as in a pipe.

bash$ ps ax | grep clock

765 tty1 S 0:00 xclock
901 pts/1 S 0:00 grep clock

The -i option causes a case-insensitive search.

The -w option matches only whole words.

The -l option lists only the files in which matches were found, but not the matching lines.

The -r (recursive) option searches files in the current working directory and all subdirectories below it.

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The -n option lists the matching lines, together with line numbers.

bash$ grep -n Linux osinfo.txt

2:This is a file containing information about Linux.
6:The GPL governs the distribution of the Linux operating system.

The -v (or --invert-match) option filters out matches.

grep pattern1 *.txt | grep -v pattern2

# Matches all lines in "*.txt" files containing "pattern1",

# but ***not*** "pattern2".

The -c (--count) option gives a numerical count of matches, rather than actually listing the matches.

grep -c txt *.sgml # (number of occurrences of "txt" in "*.sgml" files)

# grep -cz .
# ^ dot
# means count (-c) zero-separated (-z) items matching "."
# that is, non-empty ones (containing at least 1 character).
#
printf 'a b\nc d\n\n\n\n\n\000\n\000e\000\000\nf' | grep -cz . # 4
printf 'a b\nc d\n\n\n\n\n\000\n\000e\000\000\nf' | grep -cz '$' # 5
printf 'a b\nc d\n\n\n\n\n\000\n\000e\000\000\nf' | grep -cz '^' # 5
#
printf 'a b\nc d\n\n\n\n\n\000\n\000e\000\000\nf' | grep -c '$' # 9
# By default, newline chars (\n) separate items to match.

# Note that the -z option is GNU "grep" specific.

# Thanks, S.C.

When invoked with more than one target file given, grep specifies which file contains matches.

bash$ grep Linux osinfo.txt misc.txt

osinfo.txt:This is a file containing information about Linux.
osinfo.txt:The GPL governs the distribution of the Linux operating system.
misc.txt:The Linux operating system is steadily gaining in popularity.

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To force grep to show the filename when searching only one target file, simply give /dev/null as the second
file.

bash$ grep Linux osinfo.txt /dev/null

osinfo.txt:This is a file containing information about Linux.
osinfo.txt:The GPL governs the distribution of the Linux operating system.

If there is a successful match, grep returns an exit status of 0, which makes it useful in a condition test in a script,
especially in combination with the -q option to suppress output.

SUCCESS=0 # if grep lookup succeeds

word=Linux
filename=data.file

grep -q "$word" "$filename" # The "-q" option causes nothing to echo to stdout.

if [ $? -eq $SUCCESS ]
then
echo "$word found in $filename"
else
echo "$word not found in $filename"
fi

Example 30-6 demonstrates how to use grep to search for a word pattern in a system logfile.

Example 12-12. Emulating "grep" in a script

#!/bin/bash
# grp.sh: Very crude reimplementation of 'grep'.

E_BADARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ] # Check for argument to script.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` pattern"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

echo

for file in * # Traverse all files in $PWD.

do
output=$(sed -n /"$1"/p $file) # Command substitution.

if [ ! -z "$output" ] # What happens if "$output" is not quoted?

then
echo -n "$file: "
echo $output
fi # sed -ne "/$1/s|^|${file}: |p" is equivalent to above.

echo

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done

echo

exit 0

# Exercises:
# ---------
# 1) Add newlines to output, if more than one match in any given file.
# 2) Add features.

egrep is the same as grep -E. This uses a somewhat different, extended set of regular expressions, which can
make the search somewhat more flexible.

fgrep is the same as grep -F. It does a literal string search (no regular expressions), which allegedly speeds
things up a bit.

agrep extends the capabilities of grep to approximate matching. The search string may differ by a specified
number of characters from the resulting matches. This utility is not part of the core Linux distribution.

To search compressed files, use zgrep, zegrep, or zfgrep. These also work on non-compressed files, though
slower than plain grep, egrep, fgrep. They are handy for searching through a mixed set of files, some
compressed, some not.

To search bzipped files, use bzgrep.

look

The command look works like grep, but does a lookup on a "dictionary", a sorted word list. By default, look searches for a
match in /usr/dict/words, but a different dictionary file may be specified.

Example 12-13. Checking words in a list for validity

#!/bin/bash
# lookup: Does a dictionary lookup on each word in a data file.

file=words.data # Data file from which to read words to test.

echo

while [ "$word" != end ] # Last word in data file.

do
read word # From data file, because of redirection at end of loop.
look $word > /dev/null # Don't want to display lines in dictionary file.
lookup=$? # Exit status of 'look' command.

if [ "$lookup" -eq 0 ]
then
echo "\"$word\" is valid."
else
echo "\"$word\" is invalid."
fi

done <"$file" # Redirects stdin to $file, so "reads" come from there.

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echo

exit 0

# ----------------------------------------------------------------
# Code below line will not execute because of "exit" command above.

# Stephane Chazelas proposes the following, more concise alternative:

while read word && [[ $word != end ]]

do if look "$word" > /dev/null
then echo "\"$word\" is valid."
else echo "\"$word\" is invalid."
fi
done <"$file"

exit 0

sed, awk

Scripting languages especially suited for parsing text files and command output. May be embedded singly or in
combination in pipes and shell scripts.

sed

Non-interactive "stream editor", permits using many ex commands in batch mode. It finds many uses in shell scripts.
awk

Programmable file extractor and formatter, good for manipulating and/or extracting fields (columns) in structured text files.
Its syntax is similar to C.
wc

wc gives a "word count" on a file or I/O stream:

bash $ wc /usr/doc/sed-3.02/README
20 127 838 /usr/doc/sed-3.02/README
[20 lines 127 words 838 characters]

wc -w gives only the word count.

wc -l gives only the line count.

wc -c gives only the character count.

wc -L gives only the length of the longest line.

Using wc to count how many .txt files are in current working directory:

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$ ls *.txt | wc -l
# Will work as long as none of the "*.txt" files have a linefeed in their name.

# Alternative ways of doing this are:

# find . -maxdepth 1 -name \*.txt -print0 | grep -cz .
# (shopt -s nullglob; set -- *.txt; echo $#)

# Thanks, S.C.

Using wc to total up the size of all the files whose names begin with letters in the range d - h

bash$ wc [d-h]* | grep total | awk '{print $3}'

71832

Using wc to count the instances of the word "Linux" in the main source file for this book.

bash$ grep Linux abs-book.sgml | wc -l

50

See also Example 12-30 and Example 16-7.

Certain commands include some of the functionality of wc as options.

... | grep foo | wc -l

# This frequently used construct can be more concisely rendered.

... | grep -c foo

# Just use the "-c" (or "--count") option of grep.

# Thanks, S.C.

tr

character translation filter.

Must use quoting and/or brackets, as appropriate. Quotes prevent the shell from reinterpreting the special
characters in tr command sequences. Brackets should be quoted to prevent expansion by the shell.

Either tr "A-Z" "*" <filename or tr A-Z \* <filename changes all the uppercase letters in filename to
asterisks (writes to stdout). On some systems this may not work, but tr A-Z '[**]' will.

The -d option deletes a range of characters.

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echo "abcdef" # abcdef

echo "abcdef" | tr -d b-d # aef

tr -d 0-9 <filename
# Deletes all digits from the file "filename".

The --squeeze-repeats (or -s) option deletes all but the first instance of a string of consecutive characters. This option is
useful for removing excess whitespace.

bash$ echo "XXXXX" | tr --squeeze-repeats 'X'

X

The -c "complement" option inverts the character set to match. With this option, tr acts only upon those characters not matching
the specified set.

bash$ echo "acfdeb123" | tr -c b-d +

+c+d+b++++

Note that tr recognizes POSIX character classes. [1]

bash$ echo "abcd2ef1" | tr '[:alpha:]' -

----2--1

Example 12-14. toupper: Transforms a file to all uppercase.

#!/bin/bash
# Changes a file to all uppercase.

E_BADARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ] # Standard check for command line arg.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

tr a-z A-Z <"$1"

# Same effect as above, but using POSIX character set notation:

# tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' <"$1"
# Thanks, S.C.

exit 0

Example 12-15. lowercase: Changes all filenames in working directory to lowercase.

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#! /bin/bash
#
# Changes every filename in working directory to all lowercase.
#
# Inspired by a script of John Dubois,
# which was translated into into Bash by Chet Ramey,
# and considerably simplified by Mendel Cooper, author of this document.

for filename in * # Traverse all files in directory.

do
fname=`basename $filename`
n=`echo $fname | tr A-Z a-z` # Change name to lowercase.
if [ "$fname" != "$n" ] # Rename only files not already lowercase.
then
mv $fname $n
fi
done

exit 0

# Code below this line will not execute because of "exit".

#--------------------------------------------------------#
# To run it, delete script above line.

# The above script will not work on filenames containing blanks or newlines.

# Stephane Chazelas therefore suggests the following alternative:

for filename in * # Not necessary to use basename,

# since "*" won't return any file containing "/".
do n=`echo "$filename/" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'`
# POSIX char set notation.
# Slash added so that trailing newlines are not
# removed by command substitution.
# Variable substitution:
n=${n%/} # Removes trailing slash, added above, from filename.
[[ $filename == $n ]] || mv "$filename" "$n"
# Checks if filename already lowercase.
done

exit 0

Example 12-16. du: DOS to UNIX text file conversion.

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#!/bin/bash
# du.sh: DOS to UNIX text file converter.

E_WRONGARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename-to-convert"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

NEWFILENAME=$1.unx

CR='\015' # Carriage return.

# Lines in a DOS text file end in a CR-LF.

tr -d $CR < $1 > $NEWFILENAME

# Delete CR and write to new file.

echo "Original DOS text file is \"$1\"."

echo "Converted UNIX text file is \"$NEWFILENAME\"."

exit 0

Example 12-17. rot13: rot13, ultra-weak encryption.

#!/bin/bash
# rot13.sh: Classic rot13 algorithm, encryption that might fool a 3-year old.

# Usage: ./rot13.sh filename

# or ./rot13.sh <filename
# or ./rot13.sh and supply keyboard input (stdin)

cat "$@" | tr 'a-zA-Z' 'n-za-mN-ZA-M' # "a" goes to "n", "b" to "o", etc.
# The 'cat "$@"' construction
# permits getting input either from stdin or from files.

exit 0

Example 12-18. Generating "Crypto-Quote" Puzzles

#!/bin/bash
# crypto-quote.sh: Encrypt quotes

# Will encrypt famous quotes in a simple monoalphabetic substitution.

# The result is similar to the "Crypto Quote" puzzles
#+ seen in the Op Ed pages of the Sunday paper.

key=ETAOINSHRDLUBCFGJMQPVWZYXK
# The "key" is nothing more than a scrambled alphabet.
# Changing the "key" changes the encryption.

# The 'cat "$@"' construction gets input either from stdin or from files.
# If using stdin, terminate input with a Control-D.

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# Otherwise, specify filename as command-line parameter.

cat "$@" | tr "a-z" "A-Z" | tr "A-Z" "$key"

# | to uppercase | encrypt
# Will work on lowercase, uppercase, or mixed-case quotes.
# Passes non-alphabetic characters through unchanged.

# Try this script with something like

# "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits."
# --Mark Twain
#
# Output is:
# "CFPHRCS QF CIIOQ MINFMBRCS EQ FPHIM GIFGUI'Q HETRPQ."
# --BEML PZERC

# To reverse the encryption:

# cat "$@" | tr "$key" "A-Z"

# This simple-minded cipher can be broken by an average 12-year old

#+ using only pencil and paper.

exit 0

tr variants

The tr utility has two historic variants. The BSD version does not use brackets (tr a-z A-Z), but the SysV one does (tr
'[a-z]' '[A-Z]'). The GNU version of tr resembles the BSD one, so quoting letter ranges within brackets is mandatory.

fold

A filter that wraps lines of input to a specified width. This is especially useful with the -s option, which breaks lines at
word spaces (see Example 12-19 and Example A-2).
fmt

Simple-minded file formatter, used as a filter in a pipe to "wrap" long lines of text output.

Example 12-19. Formatted file listing.

#!/bin/bash

WIDTH=40 # 40 columns wide.

b=`ls /usr/local/bin` # Get a file listing...

echo $b | fmt -w $WIDTH

# Could also have been done by

# echo $b | fold - -s -w $WIDTH

exit 0

See also Example 12-4.

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A powerful alternative to fmt is Kamil Toman's par utility, available from

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~amc/Par/.
col

This deceptively named filter removes reverse line feeds from an input stream. It also attempts to replace whitespace with
equivalent tabs. The chief use of col is in filtering the output from certain text processing utilities, such as groff and tbl.
column

Column formatter. This filter transforms list-type text output into a "pretty-printed" table by inserting tabs at appropriate
places.

Example 12-20. Using column to format a directory listing

#!/bin/bash
# This is a slight modification of the example file in the "column" man page.

(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \
; ls -l | sed 1d) | column -t

# The "sed 1d" in the pipe deletes the first line of output,
#+ which would be "total N",
#+ where "N" is the total number of files found by "ls -l".

# The -t option to "column" pretty-prints a table.

exit 0

colrm

Column removal filter. This removes columns (characters) from a file and writes the file, lacking the range of specified
columns, back to stdout. colrm 2 4 <filename removes the second through fourth characters from each line of
the text file filename.

If the file contains tabs or nonprintable characters, this may cause unpredictable behavior. In such cases,
consider using expand and unexpand in a pipe preceding colrm.
nl

Line numbering filter. nl filename lists filename to stdout, but inserts consecutive numbers at the beginning of
each non-blank line. If filename omitted, operates on stdin.

The output of nl is very similar to cat -n, however, by default nl does not list blank lines.

Example 12-21. nl: A self-numbering script.

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#!/bin/bash

# This script echoes itself twice to stdout with its lines numbered.

# 'nl' sees this as line 3 since it does not number blank lines.
# 'cat -n' sees the above line as number 5.

nl `basename $0`

echo; echo # Now, let's try it with 'cat -n'

cat -n `basename $0`

# The difference is that 'cat -n' numbers the blank lines.
# Note that 'nl -ba' will also do so.

exit 0

pr

Print formatting filter. This will paginate files (or stdout) into sections suitable for hard copy printing or viewing on
screen. Various options permit row and column manipulation, joining lines, setting margins, numbering lines, adding page
headers, and merging files, among other things. The pr command combines much of the functionality of nl, paste, fold,
column, and expand.

pr -o 5 --width=65 fileZZZ | more gives a nice paginated listing to screen of fileZZZ with margins set at 5
and 65.

A particularly useful option is -d, forcing double-spacing (same effect as sed -G).

gettext

A GNU utility for localization and translating the text output of programs into foreign languages. While primarily intended
for C programs, gettext also finds use in shell scripts. See the info page.
iconv

A utility for converting file(s) to a different encoding (character set). Its chief use is for localization.
recode

Consider this a fancier version of iconv, above. This very versatile utility for converting a file to a different encoding is not
part of the standard Linux installation.
TeX, gs

TeX and Postscript are text markup languages used for preparing copy for printing or formatted video display.

TeX is Donald Knuth's elaborate typsetting system. It is often convenient to write a shell script encapsulating all the
options and arguments passed to one of these markup languages.

Ghostscript (gs) is a GPL-ed Postscript interpreter.

groff, tbl, eqn

Yet another text markup and display formatting language is groff. This is the enhanced GNU version of the venerable
UNIX roff/troff display and typesetting package. Manpages use groff (see Example A-1).

The tbl table processing utility is considered part of groff, as its function is to convert table markup into groff commands.

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The eqn equation processing utility is likewise part of groff, and its function is to convert equation markup into groff
commands.
lex, yacc

The lex lexical analyzer produces programs for pattern matching. This has been replaced by the nonproprietary flex on
Linux systems.

The yacc utility creates a parser based on a set of specifications. This has been replaced by the nonproprietary bison on
Linux systems.

Notes

[1] This is only true of the GNU version of tr, not the generic version often found on commercial UNIX systems.

Prev Home Next

Time / Date Commands Up File and Archiving Commands

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Time / Date Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.3. Time / Date Commands

Manipulating the time and date

date

Simply invoked, date prints the date and time to stdout. Where this command gets interesting is in its
formatting and parsing options.

Example 12-7. Using date

#!/bin/bash
# Exercising the 'date' command

echo "The number of days since the year's beginning is `date +%j`."
# Needs a leading '+' to invoke formatting.
# %j gives day of year.

echo "The number of seconds elapsed since 01/01/1970 is `date +%s`."

# %s yields number of seconds since "UNIX epoch" began,
#+ but how is this useful?

prefix=temp
suffix=`eval date +%s` # The "+%s" option to 'date' is GNU-specific.
filename=$prefix.$suffix
echo $filename
# It's great for creating "unique" temp filenames,
#+ even better than using $$.

# Read the 'date' man page for more formatting options.

exit 0

The -u option gives the UTC (Universal Coordinated Time).

bash$ date
Fri Mar 29 21:07:39 MST 2002

bash$ date -u
Sat Mar 30 04:07:42 UTC 2002

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zdump

Echoes the time in a specified time zone.

bash$ zdump EST

EST Tue Sep 18 22:09:22 2001 EST

time

Outputs very verbose timing statistics for executing a command.

time ls -l / gives something like this:

0.00user 0.01system 0:00.05elapsed 16%CPU (0avgtext+0avgdata 0maxresident)k

0inputs+0outputs (149major+27minor)pagefaults 0swaps

See also the very similar times command in the previous section.

As of version 2.0 of Bash, time became a shell reserved word, with slightly altered behavior in a
pipeline.
touch

Utility for updating access/modification times of a file to current system time or other specified time, but also
useful for creating a new file. The command touch zzz will create a new file of zero length, named zzz,
assuming that zzz did not previously exist. Time-stamping empty files in this way is useful for storing date
information, for example in keeping track of modification times on a project.

The touch command is equivalent to : >> newfile or >> newfile (for ordinary files).
at

The at job control command executes a given set of commands at a specified time. Superficially, it resembles
crond, however, at is chiefly useful for one-time execution of a command set.

at 2pm January 15 prompts for a set of commands to execute at that time. These commands should be shell-
script compatible, since, for all practical purposes, the user is typing in an executable shell script a line at a time.
Input terminates with a Ctl-D.

Using either the -f option or input redirection (<), at reads a command list from a file. This file is an executable
shell script, though it should, of course, be noninteractive. Particularly clever is including the run-parts command
in the file to execute a different set of scripts.

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bash$ at 2:30 am Friday < at-jobs.list

job 2 at 2000-10-27 02:30

batch

The batch job control command is similar to at, but it runs a command list when the system load drops below
.8. Like at, it can read commands from a file with the -f option.
cal

Prints a neatly formatted monthly calendar to stdout. Will do current year or a large range of past and future
years.
sleep

This is the shell equivalent of a wait loop. It pauses for a specified number of seconds, doing nothing. This can be
useful for timing or in processes running in the background, checking for a specific event every so often (see
Example 30-6).

sleep 3
# Pauses 3 seconds.

The sleep command defaults to seconds, but minute, hours, or days may also be specified.

sleep 3 h
# Pauses 3 hours!

usleep

Microsleep (the "u" may be read as the Greek "mu", or micro prefix). This is the same as sleep, above, but
"sleeps" in microsecond intervals. This can be used for fine-grain timing, or for polling an ongoing process at
very frequent intervals.

usleep 30
# Pauses 30 microseconds.

The usleep command does not provide particularly accurate timing, and is therefore unsuitable
for critical timing loops.
hwclock, clock

The hwclock command accesses or adjusts the machine's hardware clock. Some options require root privileges.
The /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit startup file uses hwclock to set the system time from the hardware clock at
bootup.

The clock command is a synonym for hwclock.

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Time / Date Commands

Prev Home Next

Complex Commands Up Text Processing Commands

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Complex Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.2. Complex Commands

Commands for more advanced users

find

-exec COMMAND \;

Carries out COMMAND on each file that find scores a hit on. COMMAND terminates with \; (the ; is escaped to make certain the
shell passes it to find literally, which concludes the command sequence). If COMMAND contains {}, then find substitutes the
full path name of the selected file.

bash$ find ~/ -name '*.txt'

/home/bozo/.kde/share/apps/karm/karmdata.txt
/home/bozo/misc/irmeyc.txt
/home/bozo/test-scripts/1.txt

find /home/bozo/projects -mtime 1

# Lists all files in /home/bozo/projects directory tree
# that were modified within the last day.

find /etc -exec grep '[0-9][0-9]*[.][0-9][0-9]*[.][0-9][0-9]*[.][0-9][0-9]*' {} \;

# Finds all IP addresses (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) in /etc directory files.

# There a few extraneous hits - how can they be filtered out?

# Perhaps by:

find /etc -type f -exec cat '{}' \; | tr -c '.[:digit:]' '\n' \

| grep '^[^.][^.]*\.[^.][^.]*\.[^.][^.]*\.[^.][^.]*$'
# [:digit:] is one of the character classes
# introduced with the POSIX 1003.2 standard.

# Thanks, S.C.

The -exec option to find should not be confused with the exec shell builtin.

Example 12-2. Badname, eliminate file names in current directory containing bad characters and whitespace.

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#!/bin/bash

# Delete filenames in current directory containing bad characters.

for filename in *
do
badname=`echo "$filename" | sed -n /[\+\{\;\"\\\=\?~\(\)\<\>\&\*\|\$]/p`
# Files containing those nasties: + { ; " \ = ? ~ ( ) < > & * | $
rm $badname 2>/dev/null # So error messages deep-sixed.
done

# Now, take care of files containing all manner of whitespace.

find . -name "* *" -exec rm -f {} \;
# The path name of the file that "find" finds replaces the "{}".
# The '\' ensures that the ';' is interpreted literally, as end of command.

exit 0

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
# Commands below this line will not execute because of "exit" command.

# An alternative to the above script:

find . -name '*[+{;"\\=?~()<>&*|$ ]*' -exec rm -f '{}' \;
exit 0
# (Thanks, S.C.)

Example 12-3. Deleting a file by its inode number

#!/bin/bash
# idelete.sh: Deleting a file by its inode number.

# This is useful when a filename starts with an illegal character,

#+ such as ? or -.

ARGCOUNT=1 # Filename arg must be passed to script.

E_WRONGARGS=70
E_FILE_NOT_EXIST=71
E_CHANGED_MIND=72

if [ $# -ne "$ARGCOUNT" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

if [ ! -e "$1" ]
then
echo "File \""$1"\" does not exist."
exit $E_FILE_NOT_EXIST
fi

inum=`ls -i | grep "$1" | awk '{print $1}'`

# inum = inode (index node) number of file
# Every file has an inode, a record that hold its physical address info.

echo; echo -n "Are you absolutely sure you want to delete \"$1\" (y/n)? "
read answer

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Complex Commands

case "$answer" in
[nN]) echo "Changed your mind, huh?"
exit $E_CHANGED_MIND
;;
*) echo "Deleting file \"$1\".";;
esac

find . -inum $inum -exec rm {} \;

echo "File "\"$1"\" deleted!"

exit 0

See Example 12-22, Example 4-4, and Example 10-9 for scripts using find. Its manpage provides more detail on this complex and
powerful command.

xargs

A filter for feeding arguments to a command, and also a tool for assembling the commands themselves. It breaks a data
stream into small enough chunks for filters and commands to process. Consider it as a powerful replacement for backquotes.
In situations where backquotes fail with a too many arguments error, substituting xargs often works. Normally, xargs reads
from stdin or from a pipe, but it can also be given the output of a file.

The default command for xargs is echo. This means that input piped to xargs may have linefeeds and other whitespace
characters stripped out.

bash$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Jan 29 23:58 file1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Jan 29 23:58 file2

bash$ ls -l | xargs
total 0 -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Jan 29 23:58 file1 -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Jan 29
23:58 file2

ls | xargs -p -l gzip gzips every file in current directory, one at a time, prompting before each operation.

An interesting xargs option is -n NN, which limits to NN the number of arguments passed.

ls | xargs -n 8 echo lists the files in the current directory in 8 columns.

Another useful option is -0, in combination with find -print0 or grep -lZ. This allows handling arguments
containing whitespace or quotes.

find / -type f -print0 | xargs -0 grep -liwZ GUI | xargs -0 rm -f

grep -rliwZ GUI / | xargs -0 rm -f

Either of the above will remove any file containing "GUI". (Thanks, S.C.)

Example 12-4. Logfile using xargs to monitor system log

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#!/bin/bash

# Generates a log file in current directory

# from the tail end of /var/log/messages.

# Note: /var/log/messages must be world readable

# if this script invoked by an ordinary user.
# #root chmod 644 /var/log/messages

LINES=5

( date; uname -a ) >>logfile

# Time and machine name
echo --------------------------------------------------------------------- >>logfile
tail -$LINES /var/log/messages | xargs | fmt -s >>logfile
echo >>logfile
echo >>logfile

exit 0

Example 12-5. copydir, copying files in current directory to another, using xargs

#!/bin/bash

# Copy (verbose) all files in current directory

# to directory specified on command line.

if [ -z "$1" ] # Exit if no argument given.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` directory-to-copy-to"
exit 65
fi

ls . | xargs -i -t cp ./{} $1
# This is the exact equivalent of
# cp * $1
# unless any of the filenames has "whitespace" characters.

exit 0

expr

All-purpose expression evaluator: Concatenates and evaluates the arguments according to the operation given (arguments
must be separated by spaces). Operations may be arithmetic, comparison, string, or logical.

expr 3 + 5

returns 8
expr 5 % 3

returns 2
expr 5 \* 3

returns 15

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The multiplication operator must be escaped when used in an arithmetic expression with expr.
y=`expr $y + 1`

Increment a variable, with the same effect as let y=y+1 and y=$(($y+1)). This is an example of arithmetic expansion.
z=`expr substr $string $position $length`

Extract substring of $length characters, starting at $position.

Example 12-6. Using expr

#!/bin/bash

# Demonstrating some of the uses of 'expr'

# =======================================

echo

# Arithmetic Operators
# ---------- ---------

echo "Arithmetic Operators"

echo
a=`expr 5 + 3`
echo "5 + 3 = $a"

a=`expr $a + 1`
echo
echo "a + 1 = $a"
echo "(incrementing a variable)"

a=`expr 5 % 3`
# modulo
echo
echo "5 mod 3 = $a"

echo
echo

# Logical Operators
# ------- ---------

# Returns 1 if true, 0 if false,

#+ opposite of normal Bash convention.

echo "Logical Operators"

echo

x=24
y=25
b=`expr $x = $y` # Test equality.
echo "b = $b" # 0 ( $x -ne $y )
echo

a=3
b=`expr $a \> 10`
echo 'b=`expr $a \> 10`, therefore...'
echo "If a > 10, b = 0 (false)"
echo "b = $b" # 0 ( 3 ! -gt 10 )

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echo

b=`expr $a \< 10`

echo "If a < 10, b = 1 (true)"
echo "b = $b" # 1 ( 3 -lt 10 )
echo
# Note escaping of operators.

b=`expr $a \<= 3`
echo "If a <= 3, b = 1 (true)"
echo "b = $b" # 1 ( 3 -le 3 )
# There is also a "\>=" operator (greater than or equal to).

echo
echo

# Comparison Operators
# ---------- ---------

echo "Comparison Operators"

echo
a=zipper
echo "a is $a"
if [ `expr $a = snap` ]
# Force re-evaluation of variable 'a'
then
echo "a is not zipper"
fi

echo
echo

# String Operators
# ------ ---------

echo "String Operators"

echo

a=1234zipper43231
echo "The string being operated upon is \"$a\"."

# length: length of string

b=`expr length $a`
echo "Length of \"$a\" is $b."

# index: position of first character in substring

# that matches a character in string
b=`expr index $a 23`
echo "Numerical position of first \"2\" in \"$a\" is \"$b\"."

# substr: extract substring, starting position & length specified

b=`expr substr $a 2 6`
echo "Substring of \"$a\", starting at position 2,\
and 6 chars long is \"$b\"."

# The default behavior of the 'match' operations is to

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#+ search for the specified match at the ***beginning*** of the string.

#
# uses Regular Expressions
b=`expr match "$a" '[0-9]*'` # Numerical count.
echo Number of digits at the beginning of \"$a\" is $b.
b=`expr match "$a" '\([0-9]*\)'` # Note that escaped parentheses
# == == + trigger substring match.
echo "The digits at the beginning of \"$a\" are \"$b\"."

echo

exit 0

The : operator can substitute for match. For example, b=`expr $a : [0-9]*` is the exact equivalent of
b=`expr match $a [0-9]*` in the above listing.

#!/bin/bash

echo
echo "String operations using \"expr \$string : \" construct"
echo "==================================================="
echo

a=1234zipper5FLIPPER43231

echo "The string being operated upon is \"`expr "$a" : '\(.*\)'`\"."

# Escaped parentheses grouping operator. == ==

# ***************************
#+ Escaped parentheses
#+ match a substring
# ***************************

# If no escaped parentheses...
#+ then 'expr' converts the string operand to an integer.

echo "Length of \"$a\" is `expr "$a" : '.*'`." # Length of string

echo "Number of digits at the beginning of \"$a\" is `expr "$a" : '[0-9]*'`."

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------- #

echo

echo "The digits at the beginning of \"$a\" are `expr "$a" : '\([0-9]*\)'`."
# == ==
echo "The first 7 characters of \"$a\" are `expr "$a" : '\(.......\)'`."
# ===== == ==
# Again, escaped parentheses force a substring match.
#
echo "The last 7 characters of \"$a\" are `expr "$a" : '.*\(.......\)'`."
# ==== end of string operator ^^
# (actually means skip over one or more of any characters until specified
#+ substring)

echo

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Complex Commands

exit 0

The above example illustrates how expr uses the escaped parentheses -- \( ... \) -- grouping operator in tandem with regular
expression parsing to match a substring.

Perl and sed have far superior string parsing facilities. A short Perl or sed "subroutine" within a script (see Section 34.2) is an
attractive alternative to using expr.

See Section 9.2 for more on string operations.

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Basic Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.1. Basic Commands

The first commands a novice learns

ls

The basic file "list" command. It is all too easy to underestimate the power of this humble command. For example, using the -
R, recursive option, ls provides a tree-like listing of a directory structure. Other interesting options are -S, sort listing by file
size, -t, sort by file modification time, and -i, show file inodes (see Example 12-3).

Example 12-1. Using ls to create a table of contents for burning a CDR disk

#!/bin/bash

SPEED=2 # May use higher speed if your hardware supports it.

IMAGEFILE=cdimage.iso
CONTENTSFILE=contents
DEFAULTDIR=/opt # Make sure this directory exists.

# Script to automate burning a CDR.

# Uses Joerg Schilling's "cdrecord" package.

# (http://www.fokus.gmd.de/nthp/employees/schilling/cdrecord.html)

# If this script invoked as an ordinary user, need to suid cdrecord

#+ (chmod u+s /usr/bin/cdrecord, as root).

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
IMAGE_DIRECTORY=$DEFAULTDIR
# Default directory, if not specified on command line.
else
IMAGE_DIRECTORY=$1
fi

ls -lRF $IMAGE_DIRECTORY > $IMAGE_DIRECTORY/$CONTENTSFILE

# The "l" option gives a "long" file listing.
# The "R" option makes the listing recursive.
# The "F" option marks the file types (directories get a trailing /).
echo "Creating table of contents."

mkisofs -r -o $IMAGFILE $IMAGE_DIRECTORY

echo "Creating ISO9660 file system image ($IMAGEFILE)."

cdrecord -v -isosize speed=$SPEED dev=0,0 $IMAGEFILE

echo "Burning the disk."
echo "Please be patient, this will take a while."

exit 0

cat, tac

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Basic Commands

cat, an acronym for concatenate, lists a file to stdout. When combined with redirection (> or >>), it is commonly used to
concatenate files.

cat filename cat file.1 file.2 file.3 > file.123

The -n option to cat inserts consecutive numbers before all lines of the target file(s). The -b option numbers only the non-
blank lines. The -v option echoes nonprintable characters, using ^ notation. The -s option squeezes multiple consecutive
blank lines into a single blank line.

See also Example 12-21 and Example 12-17.

tac, is the inverse of cat, listing a file backwards from its end.
rev

reverses each line of a file, and outputs to stdout. This is not the same effect as tac, as it preserves the order of the lines,
but flips each one around.

bash$ cat file1.txt

This is line 1.
This is line 2.

bash$ tac file1.txt

This is line 2.
This is line 1.

bash$ rev file1.txt

.1 enil si sihT
.2 enil si sihT

cp

This is the file copy command. cp file1 file2 copies file1 to file2, overwriting file2 if it already exists (see
Example 12-5).

Particularly useful are the -a archive flag (for copying an entire directory tree) and the -r and -R recursive
flags.
mv

This is the file move command. It is equivalent to a combination of cp and rm. It may be used to move multiple files to a
directory, or even to rename a directory. For some examples of using mv in a script, see Example 9-15 and Example A-3.

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Basic Commands

When used in a non-interactive script, mv takes the -f (force) option to bypass user input.

When a directory is moved to a preexisting directory, it becomes a subdirectory of the destination directory.

bash$ mv source_directory target_directory

bash$ ls -lF target_directory

total 1
drwxrwxr-x 2 bozo bozo 1024 May 28 19:20 source_directory/

rm

Delete (remove) a file or files. The -f option forces removal of even readonly files, and is useful for bypassing user input in
a script.

When used with the recursive flag -r, this command removes files all the way down the directory tree.
rmdir

Remove directory. The directory must be empty of all files, including invisible "dotfiles", [1] for this command to succeed.
mkdir

Make directory, creates a new directory. mkdir -p project/programs/December creates the named directory. The
-p option automatically creates any necessary parent directories.
chmod

Changes the attributes of an existing file (see Example 11-9).

chmod +x filename
# Makes "filename" executable for all users.

chmod u+s filename

# Sets "suid" bit on "filename" permissions.
# An ordinary user may execute "filename" with same privileges as the file's owner.
# (This does not apply to shell scripts.)

chmod 644 filename

# Makes "filename" readable/writable to owner, readable to
# others
# (octal mode).

chmod 1777 directory-name

# Gives everyone read, write, and execute permission in directory,
# however also sets the "sticky bit".
# This means that only the owner of the directory,
# owner of the file, and, of course, root
# can delete any particular file in that directory.

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Basic Commands

chattr

Change file attributes. This has the same effect as chmod above, but with a different invocation syntax, and it works only on
an ext2 filesystem.
ln

Creates links to pre-existings files. Most often used with the -s, symbolic or "soft" link flag. This permits referencing the
linked file by more than one name and is a superior alternative to aliasing (see Example 5-6).

ln -s oldfile newfile links the previously existing oldfile to the newly created link, newfile.

Notes

[1] These are files whose names begin with a dot, such as ~/.Xdefaults. Such filenames do not show up in a normal ls
listing, and they cannot be deleted by an accidental rm -rf *. Dotfiles are generally used as setup and configuration files in a
user's home directory.

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External Filters, Programs and Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 12. External Filters,

Programs and Commands
Table of Contents
12.1. Basic Commands
12.2. Complex Commands
12.3. Time / Date Commands
12.4. Text Processing Commands
12.5. File and Archiving Commands
12.6. Communications Commands
12.7. Terminal Control Commands
12.8. Math Commands
12.9. Miscellaneous Commands

Standard UNIX commands make shell scripts more versatile. The power of scripts comes
from coupling system commands and shell directives with simple programming constructs.

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Job Control Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 11. Internal Commands and Builtins Next

11.1. Job Control Commands

Certain of the following job control commands take a "job identifier" as an argument. See the table at end
of the chapter.

jobs

Lists the jobs running in the background, giving the job number. Not as useful as ps.

It is all too easy to confuse jobs and processes. Certain builtins, such as kill, disown,
and wait accept either a job number or a process number as an argument. The fg, bg
and jobs commands accept only a job number.

bash$ sleep 100 &

[1] 1384

bash $ jobs
[1]+ Running sleep 100 &

"1" is the job number (jobs are maintained by the current shell), and "1384" is the
process number (processes are maintained by the system). To kill this job/process,
either a kill %1 or a kill 1384 works.

Thanks, S.C.
disown

Remove job(s) from the shell's table of active jobs.

fg, bg

The fg command switches a job running in the background into the foreground. The bg command
restarts a suspended job, and runs it in the background. If no job number is specified, then the fg
or bg command acts upon the currently running job.
wait

Stop script execution until all jobs running in background have terminated, or until the job number
or process id specified as an option terminates. Returns the exit status of waited-for command.

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You may use the wait command to prevent a script from exiting before a background job finishes
executing (this would create a dreaded orphan process).

Example 11-19. Waiting for a process to finish before proceeding

#!/bin/bash

ROOT_UID=0 # Only users with $UID 0 have root privileges.

E_NOTROOT=65
E_NOPARAMS=66

if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]

then
echo "Must be root to run this script."
# "Run along kid, it's past your bedtime."
exit $E_NOTROOT
fi

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` find-string"
exit $E_NOPARAMS
fi

echo "Updating 'locate' database..."

echo "This may take a while."
updatedb /usr & # Must be run as root.

wait
# Don't run the rest of the script until 'updatedb' finished.
# You want the the database updated before looking up the file name.

locate $1

# Without the wait command, in the worse case scenario,

# the script would exit while 'updatedb' was still running,
# leaving it as an orphan process.

exit 0

Optionally, wait can take a job identifier as an argument, for example, wait%1 or wait $PPID. See the
job id table.

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Job Control Commands

Within a script, running a command in the background with an ampersand (&) may cause the
script to hang until ENTER is hit. This seems to occur with commands that write to stdout. It
can be a major annoyance.

#!/bin/bash
# test.sh

ls -l &
echo "Done."

bash$ ./test.sh
Done.
[bozo@localhost test-scripts]$ total 1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bozo bozo 34 Oct 11 15:09 test.sh
_

Placing a wait after the background command seems to remedy this.

#!/bin/bash
# test.sh

ls -l &
echo "Done."
wait

bash$ ./test.sh
Done.
[bozo@localhost test-scripts]$ total 1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bozo bozo 34 Oct 11 15:09 test.sh

Redirecting the output of the command to a file or even to /dev/null also takes care of this
problem.

suspend

This has a similar effect to Control-Z, but it suspends the shell (the shell's parent process should
resume it at an appropriate time).
logout

Exit a login shell, optionally specifying an exit status.

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times

Gives statistics on the system time used in executing commands, in the following form:

0m0.020s 0m0.020s

This capability is of very limited value, since it is uncommon to profile and benchmark shell
scripts.

kill

Forcibly terminate a process by sending it an appropriate terminate signal (see Example 13-4).

Example 11-20. A script that kills itself

#!/bin/bash
# self-destruct.sh

kill $$ # Script kills its own process here.

# Recall that "$$" is the script's PID.

echo "This line will not echo."

# Instead, the shell sends a "Terminated" message to stdout.

exit 0

kill -l lists all the signals. A kill -9 is a "sure kill", which will usually
terminate a process that stubbornly refuses to die with a plain kill. Sometimes, a kill
-15 works. A "zombie process", that is, a process whose parent has terminated, cannot
be killed (you can't kill something that is already dead), but init will usually clean it up
sooner or later.
command

The command COMMAND directive disables aliases and functions for the command
"COMMAND".

This is one of three shell directives that effect script command processing. The others
are builtin and enable.
builtin

Invoking builtin BUILTIN_COMMAND runs the command "BUILTIN_COMMAND" as a

shell builtin, temporarily disabling both functions and external system commands with the same

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Job Control Commands

name.
enable

This either enables or disables a shell builtin command. As an example, enable -n kill disables the
shell builtin kill, so that when Bash subsequently encounters kill, it invokes /bin/kill.

The -a option to enable lists all the shell builtins, indicating whether or not they are enabled. The
-f filename option lets enable load a builtin as a shared library (DLL) module from a
properly compiled object file. [1].
autoload

This is a port to Bash of the ksh autoloader. With autoload in place, a function with an "autoload"
declaration will load from an external file at its first invocation. [2] This saves system resources.

Note that autoload is not a part of the core Bash installation. It needs to be loaded in with enable -
f (see above).

Table 11-1. Job Identifiers

Notation Meaning
%N Job number [N]
%S Invocation (command line) of job begins with string S
%?S Invocation (command line) of job contains within it string S
%% "current" job (last job stopped in foreground or started in background)
%+ "current" job (last job stopped in foreground or started in background)
%- Last job
$! Last background process

Notes

[1] The C source for a number of loadable builtins is typically found in the
/usr/share/doc/bash-?.??/functions directory.

Note that the -f option to enable is not portable to all systems.

[2] The same effect as autoload can be achieved with typeset -fu.

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Commands

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Internal Commands and Builtins

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 11. Internal Commands and Builtins

A builtin is a command contained within the Bash tool set, literally built in. This is either for performance reasons -- builtins
execute faster than external commands, which usually require forking off a separate process -- or because a particular builtin
needs direct access to the shell internals.

When a command or the shell itself initiates (or spawns) a new subprocess to carry out a task, this is called forking. This
new process is the "child", and the process that forked it off is the "parent". While the child process is doing its work, the
parent process is still executing.

Generally, a Bash builtin does not fork a subprocess when it executes within a script. An external system command or filter
in a script usually will fork a subprocess.

A builtin may be a synonym to a system command of the same name, but Bash reimplements it internally. For example, the
Bash echo command is not the same as /bin/echo, although their behavior is almost identical.

#!/bin/bash

echo "This line uses the \"echo\" builtin."

/bin/echo "This line uses the /bin/echo system command."

A keyword is a reserved word, token or operator. Keywords have a special meaning to the shell, and indeed are the building
blocks of the shell's syntax. As examples, "for", "while", "do", and "!" are keywords. Similar to a builtin, a keyword is hard-
coded into Bash, but unlike a builtin, a keyword is not by itself a command, but part of a larger command structure. [1]

I/O

echo

prints (to stdout) an expression or variable (see Example 5-1).

echo Hello
echo $a

An echo requires the -e option to print escaped characters. See Example 6-2.

Normally, each echo command prints a terminal newline, but the -n option suppresses this.

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An echo can be used to feed a sequence of commands down a pipe.

if echo "$VAR" | grep -q txt # if [[ $VAR = *txt* ]]

then
echo "$VAR contains the substring sequence \"txt\""
fi

An echo, in combination with command substitution can set a variable.

a=`echo "HELLO" | tr A-Z a-z`

See also Example 12-15, Example 12-2, Example 12-32, and Example 12-33.

Be aware that echo `command` deletes any linefeeds that the output of command generates.

The $IFS (internal field separator) variable normally contains \n (linefeed) as one of its set of whitespace characters. Bash
therefore splits the output of command at linefeeds into arguments to echo. Then echo outputs these arguments, separated by
spaces.

bash$ ls -l /usr/share/apps/kjezz/sounds
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1407 Nov 7 2000 reflect.au
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 362 Nov 7 2000 seconds.au

bash$ echo `ls -l /usr/share/apps/kjezz/sounds`

total 40 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 716 Nov 7 2000 reflect.au -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 362
Nov 7 2000 seconds.au

This command is a shell builtin, and not the same as /bin/echo, although its behavior is similar.

bash$ type -a echo

echo is a shell builtin
echo is /bin/echo

printf

The printf, formatted print, command is an enhanced echo. It is a limited variant of the C language printf() library
function, and its syntax is somewhat different.

printf format-string... parameter...

This is the Bash builtin version of the /bin/printf or /usr/bin/printf command. See the printf manpage (of
the system command) for in-depth coverage.

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Internal Commands and Builtins

Older versions of Bash may not support printf.

Example 11-1. printf in action

#!/bin/bash
# printf demo

PI=3.14159265358979
DecimalConstant=31373
Message1="Greetings,"
Message2="Earthling."

echo

printf "Pi to 2 decimal places = %1.2f" $PI

echo
printf "Pi to 9 decimal places = %1.9f" $PI # It even rounds off correctly.

printf "\n" # Prints a line feed,

# equivalent to 'echo'.

printf "Constant = \t%d\n" $DecimalConstant # Inserts tab (\t)

printf "%s %s \n" $Message1 $Message2

echo

# ==========================================#
# Simulation of C function, 'sprintf'.
# Loading a variable with a formatted string.

echo

Pi12=$(printf "%1.12f" $PI)

echo "Pi to 12 decimal places = $Pi12"

Msg=`printf "%s %s \n" $Message1 $Message2`

echo $Msg; echo $Msg

# As it happens, the 'sprintf' function can now be accessed

# as a loadable module to Bash, but this is not portable.

exit 0

Formatting error messages is a useful application of printf

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E_BADDIR=65

var=nonexistent_directory

error()
{
printf "$@" >&2
# Formats positional params passed, and sents them to stderr.
echo
exit $E_BADDIR
}

cd $var || error $"Can't cd to %s." "$var"

# Thanks, S.C.

read

"Reads" the value of a variable from stdin, that is, interactively fetches input from the keyboard. The -a option lets
read get array variables (see Example 26-2).

Example 11-2. Variable assignment, using read

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter the value of variable 'var1': "

# The -n option to echo suppresses newline.

read var1
# Note no '$' in front of var1, since it is being set.

echo "var1 = $var1"

echo

# A single 'read' statement can set multiple variables.

echo -n "Enter the values of variables 'var2' and 'var3' (separated by a space or
tab): "
read var2 var3
echo "var2 = $var2 var3 = $var3"
# If you input only one value, the other variable(s) will remain unset (null).

exit 0

A read without an associated variable assigns its input to the dedicated variable $REPLY.

Example 11-3. What happens when read has no variable

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#!/bin/bash

echo

# -------------------------- #
# First code block.
echo -n "Enter a value: "
read var
echo "\"var\" = "$var""
# Everything as expected here.
# -------------------------- #

echo

echo -n "Enter another value: "

read # No variable supplied for 'read', therefore...
#+ Input to 'read' assigned to default variable, $REPLY.
var="$REPLY"
echo "\"var\" = "$var""
# This is equivalent to the first code block.

echo

exit 0

Normally, inputting a \ suppresses a newline during input to a read. The -r option causes an inputted \ to be interpreted
literally.

Example 11-4. Multi-line input to read

#!/bin/bash

echo

echo "Enter a string terminated by a \\, then press <ENTER>."

echo "Then, enter a second string, and again press <ENTER>."
read var1 # The "\" suppresses the newline, when reading "var1".
# first line \
# second line

echo "var1 = $var1"

# var1 = first line second line

# For each line terminated by a "\",

# you get a prompt on the next line to continue feeding characters into var1.

echo; echo

echo "Enter another string terminated by a \\ , then press <ENTER>."

read -r var2 # The -r option causes the "\" to be read literally.
# first line \

echo "var2 = $var2"

# var2 = first line \

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# Data entry terminates with the first <ENTER>.

echo

exit 0

The read command has some interesting options that permit echoing a prompt and even reading keystrokes without hitting
ENTER.

# Read a keypress without hitting ENTER.

read -s -n1 -p "Hit a key " keypress

echo; echo "Keypress was "\"$keypress\""."

# -s option means do not echo input.

# -n N option means accept only N characters of input.
# -p option means echo the following prompt before reading input.

# Using these options is tricky, since they need to be in the correct order.

The -t option to read permits timed input (see Example 9-4).

The read command may also "read" its variable value from a file redirected to stdin. If the file contains more than one line,
only the first line is assigned to the variable. If read has more than one parameter, then each of these variables gets assigned a
successive whitespace-delineated string. Caution!

Example 11-5. Using read with file redirection

#!/bin/bash

read var1 <data-file

echo "var1 = $var1"
# var1 set to the entire first line of the input file "data-file"

read var2 var3 <data-file

echo "var2 = $var2 var3 = $var3"
# Note non-intuitive behavior of "read" here.
# 1) Rewinds back to the beginning of input file.
# 2) Each variable is now set to a corresponding string,
# separated by whitespace, rather than to an entire line of text.
# 3) The final variable gets the remainder of the line.
# 4) If there are more variables to be set than whitespace-terminated strings
# on the first line of the file, then the excess variables remain empty.

echo "------------------------------------------------"

# How to resolve the above problem with a loop:

while read line
do
echo "$line"
done <data-file
# Thanks, Heiner Steven for pointing this out.

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echo "------------------------------------------------"

# Use $IFS (Internal File Separator variable) to split a line of input to

# "read", if you do not want the default to be whitespace.

echo "List of all users:"

OIFS=$IFS; IFS=: # /etc/passwd uses ":" for field separator.
while read name passwd uid gid fullname ignore
do
echo "$name ($fullname)"
done </etc/passwd # I/O redirection.
IFS=$OIFS # Restore originial $IFS.
# This code snippet also by Heiner Steven.

exit 0

Piping output to a read, using echo to set variables will fail.

However, piping the output of cat does seem to work.

cat file1 file2 |

while read line
do
echo $line
done

Filesystem

cd

The familiar cd change directory command finds use in scripts where execution of a command requires being in a
specified directory.

(cd /source/directory && tar cf - . ) | (cd /dest/directory && tar xpvf -)

[from the previously cited example by Alan Cox]

The -P (physical) option to cd causes it to ignore symbolic links.

cd - changes to $OLDPWD, the previous working directory.

pwd

Print Working Directory. This gives the user's (or script's) current directory (see Example 11-6). The effect is identical
to reading the value of the builtin variable $PWD.
pushd, popd, dirs

This command set is a mechanism for bookmarking working directories, a means of moving back and forth through
directories in an orderly manner. A pushdown stack is used to keep track of directory names. Options allow various

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manipulations of the directory stack.

pushd dir-name pushes the path dir-name onto the directory stack and simultaneously changes the current
working directory to dir-name

popd removes (pops) the top directory path name off the directory stack and simultaneously changes the current
working directory to that directory popped from the stack.

dirs lists the contents of the directory stack (compare this with the $DIRSTACK variable). A successful pushd or popd
will automatically invoke dirs.

Scripts that require various changes to the current working directory without hard-coding the directory name changes
can make good use of these commands. Note that the implicit $DIRSTACK array variable, accessible from within a
script, holds the contents of the directory stack.

Example 11-6. Changing the current working directory

#!/bin/bash

dir1=/usr/local
dir2=/var/spool

pushd $dir1
# Will do an automatic 'dirs' (list directory stack to stdout).
echo "Now in directory `pwd`." # Uses back-quoted 'pwd'.

# Now, do some stuff in directory 'dir1'.

pushd $dir2
echo "Now in directory `pwd`."

# Now, do some stuff in directory 'dir2'.

echo "The top entry in the DIRSTACK array is $DIRSTACK."
popd
echo "Now back in directory `pwd`."

# Now, do some more stuff in directory 'dir1'.

popd
echo "Now back in original working directory `pwd`."

exit 0

Variables

let

The let command carries out arithmetic operations on variables. In many cases, it functions as a less complex version of
expr.

Example 11-7. Letting let do some arithmetic.

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#!/bin/bash

echo

let a=11 # Same as 'a=11'

let a=a+5 # Equivalent to let "a = a + 5"
# (double quotes and spaces make it more readable)
echo "11 + 5 = $a"

let "a <<= 3" # Equivalent to let "a = a << 3"

echo "\"\$a\" (=16) left-shifted 3 places = $a"

let "a /= 4" # Equivalent to let "a = a / 4"

echo "128 / 4 = $a"

let "a -= 5" # Equivalent to let "a = a - 5"

echo "32 - 5 = $a"

let "a = a * 10" # Equivalent to let "a = a * 10"

echo "27 * 10 = $a"

let "a %= 8" # Equivalent to let "a = a % 8"

echo "270 modulo 8 = $a (270 / 8 = 33, remainder $a)"

echo

exit 0

eval

eval arg1 [arg2] ... [argN]

Translates into commands the arguments in a list (useful for code generation within a script).

Example 11-8. Showing the effect of eval

#!/bin/bash

y=`eval ls -l` # Similar to y=`ls -l`

echo $y # but linefeeds removed because "echoed" variable is unquoted.
echo
echo "$y" # Linefeeds preserved when variable is quoted.

echo; echo

y=`eval df` # Similar to y=`df`

echo $y # but linefeeds removed.

# When LF's not preserved, it may make it easier to parse output,

#+ using utilities such as "awk".

exit 0

Example 11-9. Forcing a log-off

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#!/bin/bash

y=`eval ps ax | sed -n '/ppp/p' | awk '{ print $1 }'`

# Finding the process number of 'ppp'.

kill -9 $y # Killing it

# Above lines may be replaced by

# kill -9 `ps ax | awk '/ppp/ { print $1 }'

chmod 666 /dev/ttyS3

# Doing a SIGKILL on ppp changes the permissions
# on the serial port. Restore them to previous state.

rm /var/lock/LCK..ttyS3 # Remove the serial port lock file.

exit 0

Example 11-10. A version of "rot13"

#!/bin/bash
# A version of "rot13" using 'eval'.
# Compare to "rot13.sh" example.

setvar_rot_13() # "rot13" scrambling

{
local varname=$1 varvalue=$2
eval $varname='$(echo "$varvalue" | tr a-z n-za-m)'
}

setvar_rot_13 var "foobar" # Run "foobar" through rot13.

echo $var # sbbone

echo $var | tr a-z n-za-m # foobar

# Back to original variable.

# This example by Stephane Chazelas.

exit 0

The eval command can be risky, and normally should be avoided when there exists a reasonable
alternative. An eval $COMMANDS executes the contents of COMMANDS, which may contain such
unpleasant surprises as rm -rf *. Running an eval on unfamiliar code written by persons unknown is living
dangerously.
set

The set command changes the value of internal script variables. One use for this is to toggle option flags which help
determine the behavior of the script. Another application for it is to reset the positional parameters that a script sees as
the result of a command (set `command`). The script can then parse the fields of the command output.

Example 11-11. Using set with positional parameters

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#!/bin/bash

# script "set-test"

# Invoke this script with three command line parameters,

# for example, "./set-test one two three".

echo
echo "Positional parameters before set \`uname -a\` :"
echo "Command-line argument #1 = $1"
echo "Command-line argument #2 = $2"
echo "Command-line argument #3 = $3"

echo

set `uname -a` # Sets the positional parameters to the output

# of the command `uname -a`

echo "Positional parameters after set \`uname -a\` :"

# $1, $2, $3, etc. reinitialized to result of `uname -a`
echo "Field #1 of 'uname -a' = $1"
echo "Field #2 of 'uname -a' = $2"
echo "Field #3 of 'uname -a' = $3"
echo

exit 0

Invoking set without any options or arguments simply lists all the environmental and other variables that have been initialized.

bash$ set
AUTHORCOPY=/home/bozo/posts
BASH=/bin/bash
BASH_VERSION=$'2.05.8(1)-release'
...
XAUTHORITY=/home/bozo/.Xauthority
_=/etc/bashrc
variable22=abc
variable23=xzy

Using set with the -- option explicitly assigns the contents of a variable to the positional parameters. When no variable
follows the --, it unsets the positional parameters.

Example 11-12. Reassigning the positional parameters

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#!/bin/bash

variable="one two three four five"

set -- $variable
# Sets positional parameters to the contents of "$variable".

first_param=$1
second_param=$2
shift; shift # Shift past first two positional params.
remaining_params="$*"

echo
echo "first parameter = $first_param" # one
echo "second parameter = $second_param" # two
echo "remaining parameters = $remaining_params" # three four five

echo; echo

# Again.
set -- $variable
first_param=$1
second_param=$2
echo "first parameter = $first_param" # one
echo "second parameter = $second_param" # two

# ======================================================

set --
# Unsets positional parameters if no variable specified.

first_param=$1
second_param=$2
echo "first parameter = $first_param" # (null value)
echo "second parameter = $second_param" # (null value)

exit 0

See also Example 10-2 and Example 12-39.

unset

The unset command deletes a shell variable, effectively setting it to null. Note that this command does not affect
positional parameters.

bash$ unset PATH

bash$ echo $PATH

bash$

Example 11-13. "unsetting" a variable

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#!/bin/bash
# unset.sh: Unsetting a variable.

variable=hello # Initialized.
echo "variable = $variable"

unset variable # Unset.

# Same effect as variable=
echo "(unset) variable = $variable" # $variable is null.

exit 0

export

The export command makes available variables to all child processes of the running script or shell. Unfortunately, there
is no way to export variables back to the parent process, to the process that called or invoked the script or shell. One
important use of export command is in startup files, to initialize and make accessible environmental variables to
subsequent user processes.

Example 11-14. Using export to pass a variable to an embedded awk script

#!/bin/bash

# Yet another version of the "column totaler" script (col-totaler.sh)

# that adds up a specified column (of numbers) in the target file.
# This uses the environment to pass a script variable to 'awk'.

ARGS=2
E_WRONGARGS=65

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # Check for proper no. of command line args.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename column-number"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

filename=$1
column_number=$2

#===== Same as original script, up to this point =====#

export column_number
# Export column number to environment, so it's available for retrieval.

# Begin awk script.

# ------------------------------------------------
awk '{ total += $ENVIRON["column_number"]
}
END { print total }' $filename
# ------------------------------------------------
# End awk script.

# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

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exit 0

It is possible to initialize and export variables in the same operation, as in export var1=xxx.
declare, typeset

The declare and typeset commands specify and/or restrict properties of variables.
readonly

Same as declare -r, sets a variable as read-only, or, in effect, as a constant. Attempts to change the variable fail with an
error message. This is the shell analog of the C language const type qualifier.
getopts

This powerful tool parses command-line arguments passed to the script. This is the Bash analog of the getopt external
command and the getopt library function familiar to C programmers. It permits passing and concatenating multiple
options [2] and associated arguments to a script (for example scriptname -abc -e /usr/local).

The getopts construct uses two implicit variables. $OPTIND is the argument pointer (OPTion INDex) and $OPTARG
(OPTion ARGument) the (optional) argument attached to an option. A colon following the option name in the
declaration tags that option as having an associated argument.

A getopts construct usually comes packaged in a while loop, which processes the options and arguments one at a time,
then decrements the implicit $OPTIND variable to step to the next.

1. The arguments passed from the command line to the script must be preceded by a minus (-) or a
plus (+). It is the prefixed - or + that lets getopts recognize command-line arguments as options. In
fact, getopts will not process arguments without the prefixed - or +, and will terminate option
processing at the first argument encountered lacking them.
2. The getopts template differs slightly from the standard while loop, in that it lacks condition
brackets.
3. The getopts construct replaces the obsolete and less powerful getopt external command.

while getopts ":abcde:fg" Option

# Initial declaration.
# a, b, c, d, e, f, and g are the options (flags) expected.
# The : after option 'e' shows it will have an argument passed with it.
do
case $Option in
a ) # Do something with variable 'a'.
b ) # Do something with variable 'b'.
...
e) # Do something with 'e', and also with $OPTARG,
# which is the associated argument passed with option 'e'.
...
g ) # Do something with variable 'g'.
esac
done
shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
# Move argument pointer to next.

# All this is not nearly as complicated as it looks <grin>.

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Example 11-15. Using getopts to read the options/arguments passed to a script

#!/bin/bash

# 'getopts' processes command line arguments to script.

# The arguments are parsed as "options" (flags) and associated arguments.

# Try invoking this script with

# 'scriptname -mn'
# 'scriptname -oq qOption' (qOption can be some arbitrary string.)
# 'scriptname -qXXX -r'
#
# 'scriptname -qr' - Unexpected result, takes "r" as the argument to option "q"
# 'scriptname -q -r' - Unexpected result, same as above
# If an option expects an argument ("flag:"), then it will grab
# whatever is next on the command line.

NO_ARGS=0
E_OPTERROR=65

if [ $# -eq "$NO_ARGS" ] # Script invoked with no command-line args?

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` options (-mnopqrs)"
exit $E_OPTERROR # Exit and explain usage, if no argument(s) given.
fi
# Usage: scriptname -options
# Note: dash (-) necessary

while getopts ":mnopq:rs" Option

do
case $Option in
m ) echo "Scenario #1: option -m-";;
n | o ) echo "Scenario #2: option -$Option-";;
p ) echo "Scenario #3: option -p-";;
q ) echo "Scenario #4: option -q-, with argument \"$OPTARG\"";;
# Note that option 'q' must have an associated argument,
# otherwise it falls through to the default.
r | s ) echo "Scenario #5: option -$Option-"'';;
* ) echo "Unimplemented option chosen.";; # DEFAULT
esac
done

shift $(($OPTIND - 1))

# Decrements the argument pointer so it points to next argument.

exit 0

Script Behavior

source, . (dot command)

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This command, when invoked from the command line, executes a script. Within a script, a source file-name
loads the file file-name. This is the shell scripting equivalent of a C/C++ #include directive. It is useful in
situations when multiple scripts use a common data file or function library.

Example 11-16. "Including" a data file

#!/bin/bash

. data-file # Load a data file.

# Same effect as "source data-file", but more portable.

# The file "data-file" must be present in current working directory,

#+ since it is referred to by its 'basename'.

# Now, reference some data from that file.

echo "variable1 (from data-file) = $variable1"

echo "variable3 (from data-file) = $variable3"

let "sum = $variable2 + $variable4"

echo "Sum of variable2 + variable4 (from data-file) = $sum"
echo "message1 (from data-file) is \"$message1\""
# Note: escaped quotes

print_message This is the message-print function in the data-file.

exit 0

File data-file for Example 11-16, above. Must be present in same directory.

# This is a data file loaded by a script.

# Files of this type may contain variables, functions, etc.
# It may be loaded with a 'source' or '.' command by a shell script.

# Let's initialize some variables.

variable1=22
variable2=474
variable3=5
variable4=97

message1="Hello, how are you?"

message2="Enough for now. Goodbye."

print_message ()
{
# Echoes any message passed to it.

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
return 1
# Error, if argument missing.
fi

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echo

until [ -z "$1" ]
do
# Step through arguments passed to function.
echo -n "$1"
# Echo args one at a time, suppressing line feeds.
echo -n " "
# Insert spaces between words.
shift
# Next one.
done

echo

return 0
}

exit

Unconditionally terminates a script. The exit command may optionally take an integer argument, which is returned to
the shell as the exit status of the script. It is a good practice to end all but the simplest scripts with an exit 0,
indicating a successful run.

If a script terminates with an exit lacking an argument, the exit status of the script is the exit status of the
last command executed in the script, not counting the exit.
exec

This shell builtin replaces the current process with a specified command. Normally, when the shell encounters a
command, it forks off a child process to actually execute the command. Using the exec builtin, the shell does not fork,
and the command exec'ed replaces the shell. When used in a script, therefore, it forces an exit from the script when the
exec'ed command terminates. For this reason, if an exec appears in a script, it would probably be the final command.

Example 11-17. Effects of exec

#!/bin/bash

exec echo "Exiting \"$0\"." # Exit from script here.

# ----------------------------------
# The following lines never execute.

echo "This echo will never echo."

exit 99 # This script will not exit here.

# Check exit value after script terminates
#+ with an 'echo $?'.
# It will *not* be 99.

Example 11-18. A script that exec's itself

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#!/bin/bash
# self-exec.sh

echo

echo "This line appears ONCE in the script, yet it keeps echoing."
echo "The PID of this instance of the script is still $$."
# Demonstrates that a subshell is not forked off.

echo "==================== Hit Ctl-C to exit ===================="

sleep 1

exec $0 # Spawns another instance of this same script

#+ that replaces the previous one.

echo "This line will never echo!" # Why not?

exit 0

An exec also serves to reassign file descriptors. exec <zzz-file replaces stdin with the file zzz-file (see Example
16-1).

The -exec option to find is not the same as the exec shell builtin.
shopt

This command permits changing shell options on the fly (see Example 24-1 and Example 24-2). It often appears in the
Bash startup files, but also has its uses in scripts. Needs version 2 or later of Bash.

shopt -s cdspell
# Allows minor misspelling directory names with 'cd'
command.

Commands

true

A command that returns a successful (zero) exit status, but does nothing else.

# Endless loop
while true # alias for ":"
do
operation-1
operation-2
...
operation-n
# Need a way to break out of loop.
done

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false

A command that returns an unsuccessful exit status, but does nothing else.

# Null loop
while false
do
# The following code will not execute.
operation-1
operation-2
...
operation-n
# Nothing happens!
done

type [cmd]

Similar to the which external command, type cmd gives the full pathname to "cmd". Unlike which, type is a Bash
builtin. The useful -a option to type identifies keywords and builtins, and also locates system commands with
identical names.

bash$ type '['

[ is a shell builtin
bash$ type -a '['
[ is a shell builtin
[ is /usr/bin/[

hash [cmds]

Record the path name of specified commands (in the shell hash table), so the shell or script will not need to search the
$PATH on subsequent calls to those commands. When hash is called with no arguments, it simply lists the commands
that have been hashed. The -r option resets the hash table.
help

help COMMAND looks up a short usage summary of the shell builtin COMMAND. This is the counterpart to whatis,
but for builtins.

bash$ help exit

exit: exit [n]
Exit the shell with a status of N. If N is omitted, the exit status
is that of the last command executed.

Notes

[1] An exception to this is the time command, listed in the official Bash documentation as a keyword.

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Internal Commands and Builtins

[2] A option is an argument that acts as a flag, switching script behaviors on or off. The argument associated with a
particular option indicates the behavior that the option (flag) switches on or off.

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Testing and Branching

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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10.4. Testing and Branching

The case and select constructs are technically not loops, since they do not iterate the execution of a code block. Like
loops, however, they direct program flow according to conditions at the top or bottom of the block.

Controlling program flow in a code block

case (in) / esac

The case construct is the shell equivalent of switch in C/C++. It permits branching to one of a number of code
blocks, depending on condition tests. It serves as a kind of shorthand for multiple if/then/else statements and is
an appropriate tool for creating menus.

case "$variable" in

"$condition1" )
command...
;;

"$condition2" )
command...
;;

esac

❍ Quoting the variables is not mandatory, since word splitting does not take place.
❍ Each test line ends with a right paren ).
❍ Each condition block ends with a double semicolon ;;.
❍ The entire case block terminates with an esac (case spelled backwards).

Example 10-23. Using case

#!/bin/bash

echo; echo "Hit a key, then hit return."

read Keypress

case "$Keypress" in
[a-z] ) echo "Lowercase letter";;
[A-Z] ) echo "Uppercase letter";;
[0-9] ) echo "Digit";;
* ) echo "Punctuation, whitespace, or other";;
esac # Allows ranges of characters in [square brackets].

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# Exercise:
# --------
# As the script stands, # it accepts a single keystroke, then terminates.
# Change the script so it accepts continuous input,
# reports on each keystroke, and terminates only when "X" is hit.
# Hint: enclose everything in a "while" loop.

exit 0

Example 10-24. Creating menus using case

#!/bin/bash

# Crude address database

clear # Clear the screen.

echo " Contact List"

echo " ------- ----"
echo "Choose one of the following persons:"
echo
echo "[E]vans, Roland"
echo "[J]ones, Mildred"
echo "[S]mith, Julie"
echo "[Z]ane, Morris"
echo

read person

case "$person" in
# Note variable is quoted.

"E" | "e" )
# Accept upper or lowercase input.
echo
echo "Roland Evans"
echo "4321 Floppy Dr."
echo "Hardscrabble, CO 80753"
echo "(303) 734-9874"
echo "(303) 734-9892 fax"
echo "[email protected]"
echo "Business partner & old friend"
;;
# Note double semicolon to terminate
# each option.

"J" | "j" )
echo
echo "Mildred Jones"
echo "249 E. 7th St., Apt. 19"
echo "New York, NY 10009"

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Testing and Branching

echo "(212) 533-2814"

echo "(212) 533-9972 fax"
echo "[email protected]"
echo "Girlfriend"
echo "Birthday: Feb. 11"
;;

# Add info for Smith & Zane later.

* )
# Default option.
# Empty input (hitting RETURN) fits here, too.
echo
echo "Not yet in database."
;;

esac

echo

# Exercise:
# --------
# Change the script so it accepts continuous input,
#+ instead of terminating after displaying just one address.

exit 0

An exceptionally clever use of case involves testing for command-line parameters.

#! /bin/bash

case "$1" in
"") echo "Usage: ${0##*/} <filename>"; exit 65;; # No command-line parameters,
# or first parameter empty.
# Note that ${0##*/} is ${var##pattern} param substitution. Net result is $0.

-*) FILENAME=./$1;; # If filename passed as argument ($1) starts with a dash,

# replace it with ./$1
# so further commands don't interpret it as an option.

* ) FILENAME=$1;; # Otherwise, $1.

esac

Example 10-25. Using command substitution to generate the case variable

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#!/bin/bash
# Using command substitution to generate a "case" variable.

case $( arch ) in # "arch" returns machine architecture.

i386 ) echo "80386-based machine";;
i486 ) echo "80486-based machine";;
i586 ) echo "Pentium-based machine";;
i686 ) echo "Pentium2+-based machine";;
* ) echo "Other type of machine";;
esac

exit 0

A case construct can filter strings for globbing patterns.

Example 10-26. Simple string matching

#!/bin/bash
# match-string.sh: simple string matching

match_string ()
{
MATCH=0
NOMATCH=90
PARAMS=2 # Function requires 2 arguments.
BAD_PARAMS=91

[ $# -eq $PARAMS ] || return $BAD_PARAMS

case "$1" in
"$2") return $MATCH;;
* ) return $NOMATCH;;
esac

a=one
b=two
c=three
d=two

match_string $a # wrong number of parameters

echo $? # 91

match_string $a $b # no match
echo $? # 90

match_string $b $d # match
echo $? # 0

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Testing and Branching

exit 0

Example 10-27. Checking for alphabetic input

#!/bin/bash
# Using "case" structure to filter a string.

SUCCESS=0
FAILURE=-1

isalpha () # Tests whether *first character* of input string is alphabetic.

{
if [ -z "$1" ] # No argument passed?
then
return $FAILURE
fi

case "$1" in
[a-zA-Z]*) return $SUCCESS;; # Begins with a letter?
* ) return $FAILURE;;
esac
} # Compare this with "isalpha ()" function in C.

isalpha2 () # Tests whether *entire string* is alphabetic.

{
[ $# -eq 1 ] || return $FAILURE

case $1 in
*[!a-zA-Z]*|"") return $FAILURE;;
*) return $SUCCESS;;
esac
}

check_var () # Front-end to isalpha().

{
if isalpha "$@"
then
echo "$* = alpha"
else
echo "$* = non-alpha" # Also "non-alpha" if no argument passed.
fi
}

a=23skidoo
b=H3llo
c=-What?
d=`echo $b` # Command substitution.

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Testing and Branching

check_var $a
check_var $b
check_var $c
check_var $d
check_var # No argument passed, so what happens?

# Script improved by S.C.

exit 0

select

The select construct, adopted from the Korn Shell, is yet another tool for building menus.

select variable [in list]

do
command...
break
done

This prompts the user to enter one of the choices presented in the variable list. Note that select uses the PS3
prompt (#? ) by default, but that this may be changed.

Example 10-28. Creating menus using select

#!/bin/bash

PS3='Choose your favorite vegetable: ' # Sets the prompt string.

echo

select vegetable in "beans" "carrots" "potatoes" "onions" "rutabagas"

do
echo
echo "Your favorite veggie is $vegetable."
echo "Yuck!"
echo
break # if no 'break' here, keeps looping forever.
done

exit 0

If in list is omitted, then select uses the list of command line arguments ($@) passed to the script or to the function
in which the select construct is embedded.

Compare this to the behavior of a

for variable [in list]

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Testing and Branching

construct with the in list omitted.

Example 10-29. Creating menus using select in a function

#!/bin/bash

PS3='Choose your favorite vegetable: '

echo

choice_of()
{
select vegetable
# [in list] omitted, so 'select' uses arguments passed to function.
do
echo
echo "Your favorite veggie is $vegetable."
echo "Yuck!"
echo
break
done
}

choice_of beans rice carrots radishes tomatoes spinach

# $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6
# passed to choice_of() function

exit 0

See also Example 35-3.

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Loop Control

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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10.3. Loop Control

Commands Affecting Loop Behavior

break, continue

The break and continue loop control commands [1] correspond exactly to their counterparts in other
programming languages. The break command terminates the loop (breaks out of it), while continue
causes a jump to the next iteration of the loop, skipping all the remaining commands in that particular
loop cycle.

Example 10-20. Effects of break and continue in a loop

#!/bin/bash

LIMIT=19 # Upper limit

echo
echo "Printing Numbers 1 through 20 (but not 3 and 11)."

a=0

while [ $a -le "$LIMIT" ]

do
a=$(($a+1))

if [ "$a" -eq 3 ] || [ "$a" -eq 11 ] # Excludes 3 and 11

then
continue # Skip rest of this particular loop iteration.
fi

echo -n "$a "

done

# Exercise:
# Why does loop print up to 20?

echo; echo

echo Printing Numbers 1 through 20, but something happens after 2.

##################################################################

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Loop Control

# Same loop, but substituting 'break' for 'continue'.

a=0

while [ "$a" -le "$LIMIT" ]

do
a=$(($a+1))

if [ "$a" -gt 2 ]
then
break # Skip entire rest of loop.
fi

echo -n "$a "

done

echo; echo; echo

exit 0

The break command may optionally take a parameter. A plain break terminates only the innermost loop in
which it is embedded, but a break N breaks out of N levels of loop.

Example 10-21. Breaking out of multiple loop levels

#!/bin/bash
# break-levels.sh: Breaking out of loops.

# "break N" breaks out of N level loops.

for outerloop in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo -n "Group $outerloop: "

for innerloop in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo -n "$innerloop "

if [ "$innerloop" -eq 3 ]
then
break # Try break 2 to see what happens.
# ("Breaks" out of both inner and outer loops.)
fi
done

echo
done

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Loop Control

echo

exit 0

The continue command, similar to break, optionally takes a parameter. A plain continue cuts short the
current iteration within its loop and begins the next. A continue N terminates all remaining iterations at its
loop level and continues with the next iteration at the loop N levels above.

Example 10-22. Continuing at a higher loop level

#!/bin/bash
# The "continue N" command, continuing at the Nth level loop.

for outer in I II III IV V # outer loop

do
echo; echo -n "Group $outer: "

for inner in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # inner loop

do

if [ "$inner" -eq 7 ]
then
continue 2 # Continue at loop on 2nd level, that is "outer loop".
# Replace above line with a simple "continue"
# to see normal loop behavior.
fi

echo -n "$inner " # 8 9 10 will never echo.

done

done

echo; echo

# Exercise:
# Come up with a meaningful use for "continue N" in a script.

exit 0

The continue N construct is difficult to understand and tricky to use in any meaningful
context. It is probably best avoided.

Notes

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Loop Control

[1] These are shell builtins, whereas other loop commands, such as while and case, are keywords.

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Nested Loops

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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10.2. Nested Loops

A nested loop is a loop within a loop, an inner loop within the body of an outer one. What
happens is that the first pass of the outer loop triggers the inner loop, which executes to
completion. Then the second pass of the outer loop triggers the inner loop again. This repeats until
the outer loop finishes. Of course, a break within either the inner or outer loop may interrupt this
process.

Example 10-19. Nested Loop

#!/bin/bash
# Nested "for" loops.

outer=1 # Set outer loop counter.

# Beginning of outer loop.

for a in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo "Pass $outer in outer loop."
echo "---------------------"
inner=1 # Reset inner loop counter.

# Beginning of inner loop.

for b in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo "Pass $inner in inner loop."
let "inner+=1" # Increment inner loop counter.
done
# End of inner loop.

let "outer+=1" # Increment outer loop counter.

echo # Space between output in pass of outer loop.
done
# End of outer loop.

exit 0

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Nested Loops

See Example 26-4 for an illustration of nested "while" loops, and Example 26-5 to see a "while"
loop nested inside an "until" loop.

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Loops

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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10.1. Loops
A loop is a block of code that iterates (repeats) a list of commands as long as the loop control condition is true.

for loops

for (in)

This is the basic looping construct. It differs significantly from its C counterpart.

for arg in [list]

do
command(s)...
done

During each pass through the loop, arg takes on the value of each variable in the list.

for arg in "$var1" "$var2" "$var3" ... "$varN"

# In pass 1 of the loop, $arg = $var1
# In pass 2 of the loop, $arg = $var2
# In pass 3 of the loop, $arg = $var3
# ...
# In pass N of the loop, $arg = $varN

# Arguments in [list] quoted to prevent possible word splitting.

The argument list may contain wild cards.

If do is on same line as for, there needs to be a semicolon after list.

for arg in [list] ; do

Example 10-1. Simple for loops

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Loops

#!/bin/bash
# List the planets.

for planet in Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
do
echo $planet
done

echo

# Entire 'list' enclosed in quotes creates a single variable.

for planet in "Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto"
do
echo $planet
done

exit 0

Each [list] element may contain multiple parameters. This is useful when processing parameters
in groups. In such cases, use the set command (see Example 11-11) to force parsing of each [list]
element and assignment of each component to the positional parameters.

Example 10-2. for loop with two parameters in each [list] element

#!/bin/bash
# Planets revisited.

# Associate the name of each planet with its distance from the sun.

for planet in "Mercury 36" "Venus 67" "Earth 93" "Mars 142" "Jupiter 483"
do
set -- $planet # Parses variable "planet" and sets positional parameters.
# the "--" prevents nasty surprises if $planet is null or begins with a dash.

# May need to save original positional parameters, since they get overwritten.
# One way of doing this is to use an array,
# original_params=("$@")

echo "$1 $2,000,000 miles from the sun"

#-------two tabs---concatenate zeroes onto parameter $2
done

# (Thanks, S.C., for additional clarification.)

exit 0

A variable may supply the [list] in a for loop.

Example 10-3. Fileinfo: operating on a file list contained in a variable

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Loops

#!/bin/bash
# fileinfo.sh

FILES="/usr/sbin/privatepw
/usr/sbin/pwck
/usr/sbin/go500gw
/usr/bin/fakefile
/sbin/mkreiserfs
/sbin/ypbind" # List of files you are curious about.
# Threw in a dummy file, /usr/bin/fakefile.

echo

for file in $FILES

do

if [ ! -e "$file" ] # Check if file exists.

then
echo "$file does not exist."; echo
continue # On to next.
fi

ls -l $file | awk '{ print $9 " file size: " $5 }' # Print 2 fields.
whatis `basename $file` # File info.
echo
done

exit 0

The [list] in a for loop may contain filename globbing, that is, using wildcards for filename expansion.

Example 10-4. Operating on files with a for loop

#!/bin/bash
# list-glob.sh: Generating [list] in a for-loop using "globbing".

echo

for file in *
do
ls -l "$file" # Lists all files in $PWD (current directory).
# Recall that the wild card character "*" matches everything,
# however, in "globbing", it doesn't match dot-files.

# If the pattern matches no file, it is expanded to itself.

# To prevent this, set the nullglob option
# (shopt -s nullglob).
# Thanks, S.C.
done

echo; echo

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Loops

for file in [jx]*

do
rm -f $file # Removes only files beginning with "j" or "x" in $PWD.
echo "Removed file \"$file\"".
done

echo

exit 0

Omitting the in [list] part of a for loop causes the loop to operate on $@, the list of arguments given on the
command line to the script. A particularly clever illustration of this is Example A-16.

Example 10-5. Missing in [list] in a for loop

#!/bin/bash

# Invoke both with and without arguments, and see what happens.

for a
do
echo -n "$a "
done

# The 'in list' missing, therefore the loop operates on '$@'

#+ (command-line argument list, including whitespace).

echo

exit 0

It is possible to use command substitution to generate the [list] in a for loop. See also Example 12-38, Example 10-10
and Example 12-33.

Example 10-6. Generating the [list] in a for loop with command substitution

#!/bin/bash
# A for-loop with [list] generated by command substitution.

NUMBERS="9 7 3 8 37.53"

for number in `echo $NUMBERS` # for number in 9 7 3 8 37.53

do
echo -n "$number "
done

echo
exit 0

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Loops

This is a somewhat more complex example of using command substitution to create the [list].

Example 10-7. A grep replacement for binary files

#!/bin/bash
# bin-grep.sh: Locates matching strings in a binary file.

# A "grep" replacement for binary files.

# Similar effect to "grep -a"

E_BADARGS=65
E_NOFILE=66

if [ $# -ne 2 ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` string filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ ! -f "$2" ]
then
echo "File \"$2\" does not exist."
exit $E_NOFILE
fi

for word in $( strings "$2" | grep "$1" )

# The "strings" command lists strings in binary files.
# Output then piped to "grep", which tests for desired string.
do
echo $word
done

# As S.C. points out, the above for-loop could be replaced with the simpler
# strings "$2" | grep "$1" | tr -s "$IFS" '[\n*]'

# Try something like "./bin-grep.sh mem /bin/ls" to exercise this script.

exit 0

More of the same.

Example 10-8. Listing all users on the system

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Loops

#!/bin/bash
# userlist.sh

PASSWORD_FILE=/etc/passwd
n=1 # User number

for name in $(awk 'BEGIN{FS=":"}{print $1}' < "$PASSWORD_FILE" )

# Field separator = : ^^^^^^
# Print first field ^^^^^^^^
# Get input from password file ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
do
echo "USER #$n = $name"
let "n += 1"
done

# USER #1 = root
# USER #2 = bin
# USER #3 = daemon
# ...
# USER #30 = bozo

exit 0

A final example of the [list] resulting from command substitution.

Example 10-9. Checking all the binaries in a directory for authorship

#!/bin/bash
# findstring.sh:
# Find a particular string in binaries in a specified directory.

directory=/usr/bin/
fstring="Free Software Foundation" # See which files come from the FSF.

for file in $( find $directory -type f -name '*' | sort )

do
strings -f $file | grep "$fstring" | sed -e "s%$directory%%"
# In the "sed" expression,
#+ it is necessary to substitute for the normal "/" delimiter
#+ because "/" happens to be one of the characters filtered out.
# Failure to do so gives an error message (try it).
done

exit 0

# Exercise (easy):
# ---------------
# Convert this script to taking command-line parameters
#+ for $directory and $fstring.

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Loops

The output of a for loop may be piped to a command or commands.

Example 10-10. Listing the symbolic links in a directory

#!/bin/bash
# symlinks.sh: Lists symbolic links in a directory.

ARGS=1 # Expect one command-line argument.

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # If not 1 arg...

then
directory=`pwd` # current working directory
else
directory=$1
fi

echo "symbolic links in directory \"$directory\""

for file in "$( find $directory -type l )" # -type l = symbolic links
do
echo "$file"
done | sort # Otherwise file list is unsorted.

# As Dominik 'Aeneas' Schnitzer points out,

#+ failing to quote $( find $directory -type l )
#+ will choke on filenames with embedded whitespace.

exit 0

The stdout of a loop may be redirected to a file, as this slight modification to the previous example shows.

Example 10-11. Symbolic links in a directory, saved to a file

#!/bin/bash
# symlinks.sh: Lists symbolic links in a directory.

ARGS=1 # Expect one command-line argument.

OUTFILE=symlinks.list # save file

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # If not 1 arg...

then
directory=`pwd` # current working directory
else
directory=$1
fi

echo "symbolic links in directory \"$directory\""

for file in "$( find $directory -type l )" # -type l = symbolic links
do
echo "$file"
done | sort > "$OUTFILE" # stdout of loop

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Loops

# ^^^^^^^^^^^^ redirected to save file.

exit 0

There is an alternative syntax to a for loop that will look very familiar to C programmers. This requires double
parentheses.

Example 10-12. A C-like for loop

#!/bin/bash
# Two ways to count up to 10.

echo

# Standard syntax.
for a in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
do
echo -n "$a "
done

echo; echo

# +==========================================+

# Now, let's do the same, using C-like syntax.

LIMIT=10

for ((a=1; a <= LIMIT ; a++)) # Double parentheses, and "LIMIT" with no "$".
do
echo -n "$a "
done # A construct borrowed from 'ksh93'.

echo; echo

# +=========================================================================+

# Let's use the C "comma operator" to increment two variables simultaneously.

for ((a=1, b=1; a <= LIMIT ; a++, b++)) # The comma chains together operations.
do
echo -n "$a-$b "
done

echo; echo

exit 0

See also Example 26-7, Example 26-8, and Example A-7.

---

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Loops

Now, a for-loop used in a "real-life" context.

Example 10-13. Using efax in batch mode

#!/bin/bash

EXPECTED_ARGS=2
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne $EXPECTED_ARGS ]
# Check for proper no. of command line args.
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` phone# text-file"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ ! -f "$2" ]
then
echo "File $2 is not a text file"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

fax make $2 # Create fax formatted files from text files.

for file in $(ls $2.0*) # Concatenate the converted files.

# Uses wild card in variable list.
do
fil="$fil $file"
done

efax -d /dev/ttyS3 -o1 -t "T$1" $fil # Do the work.

# As S.C. points out, the for-loop can be eliminated with

# efax -d /dev/ttyS3 -o1 -t "T$1" $2.0*
# but it's not quite as instructive [grin].

exit 0

while

This construct tests for a condition at the top of a loop, and keeps looping as long as that condition is true (returns
a 0 exit status). In contrast to a for loop, a while loop finds use in situations where the number of loop repetitions is
not known beforehand.

while [condition]
do
command...
done

As is the case with for/in loops, placing the do on the same line as the condition test requires a semicolon.

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Loops

while [condition] ; do

Note that certain specialized while loops, as, for example, a getopts construct, deviate somewhat from the standard
template given here.

Example 10-14. Simple while loop

#!/bin/bash

var0=0
LIMIT=10

while [ "$var0" -lt "$LIMIT" ]

do
echo -n "$var0 " # -n suppresses newline.
var0=`expr $var0 + 1` # var0=$(($var0+1)) also works.
done

echo

exit 0

Example 10-15. Another while loop

#!/bin/bash

echo

while [ "$var1" != "end" ] # while test "$var1" != "end"

do # also works.
echo "Input variable #1 (end to exit) "
read var1 # Not 'read $var1' (why?).
echo "variable #1 = $var1" # Need quotes because of "#".
# If input is 'end', echoes it here.
# Does not test for termination condition until top of loop.
echo
done

exit 0

A while loop may have multiple conditions. Only the final condition determines when the loop terminates. This
necessitates a slightly different loop syntax, however.

Example 10-16. while loop with multiple conditions

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Loops

#!/bin/bash

var1=unset
previous=$var1

while echo "previous-variable = $previous"

echo
previous=$var1
[ "$var1" != end ] # Keeps track of what $var1 was previously.
# Four conditions on "while", but only last one controls loop.
# The *last* exit status is the one that counts.
do
echo "Input variable #1 (end to exit) "
read var1
echo "variable #1 = $var1"
done

# Try to figure out how this all works.

# It's a wee bit tricky.

exit 0

As with a for loop, a while loop may employ C-like syntax by using the double parentheses construct (see also Example
9-25).

Example 10-17. C-like syntax in a while loop

#!/bin/bash
# wh-loopc.sh: Count to 10 in a "while" loop.

LIMIT=10
a=1

while [ "$a" -le $LIMIT ]

do
echo -n "$a "
let "a+=1"
done # No surprises, so far.

echo; echo

# +=================================================================+

# Now, repeat with C-like syntax.

((a = 1)) # a=1

# Double parentheses permit space when setting a variable, as in C.

while (( a <= LIMIT )) # Double parentheses, and no "$" preceding variables.

do
echo -n "$a "
((a += 1)) # let "a+=1"

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Loops

# Yes, indeed.
# Double parentheses permit incrementing a variable with C-like syntax.
done

echo

# Now, C programmers can feel right at home in Bash.

exit 0

A while loop may have its stdin redirected to a file by a < at its end.
until

This construct tests for a condition at the top of a loop, and keeps looping as long as that condition is false
(opposite of while loop).

until [condition-is-true]
do
command...
done

Note that an until loop tests for the terminating condition at the top of the loop, differing from a similar construct
in some programming languages.

As is the case with for/in loops, placing the do on the same line as the condition test requires a semicolon.

until [condition-is-true] ; do

Example 10-18. until loop

#!/bin/bash

until [ "$var1" = end ] # Tests condition here, at top of loop.

do
echo "Input variable #1 "
echo "(end to exit)"
read var1
echo "variable #1 = $var1"
done

exit 0

Prev Home Next

Loops and Branches Up Nested Loops

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Loops and Branches

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches

Table of Contents
10.1. Loops
10.2. Nested Loops
10.3. Loop Control
10.4. Testing and Branching

Operations on code blocks are the key to structured, organized shell scripts. Looping and
branching constructs provide the tools for accomplishing this.

Prev Home Next

The Double Parentheses Up Loops
Construct

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Variable Substitution

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters Next

5.1. Variable Substitution

The name of a variable is a placeholder for its value, the data it holds. Referencing its value is called variable
substitution.

Let us carefully distinguish between the name of a variable and its value. If variable1 is the name of a
variable, then $variable1 is a reference to its value, the data item it contains. The only time a variable
appears "naked", without the $ prefix, is when declared or assigned, when unset, when exported, or in the
special case of a variable representing a signal (see Example 30-5). Assignment may be with an = (as in
var1=27), in a read statement, and at the head of a loop (for var2 in 1 2 3).

Enclosing a referenced value in double quotes (" ") does not interfere with variable substitution. This is
called partial quoting, sometimes referred to as "weak quoting". Using single quotes (' ') causes the variable
name to be used literally, and no substitution will take place. This is full quoting, sometimes referred to as
"strong quoting". See Chapter 6 for a detailed discussion.

Note that $variable is actually a simplified alternate form of ${variable}. In contexts where the
$variable syntax causes an error, the longer form may work (see Section 9.3, below).

Example 5-1. Variable assignment and substitution

#!/bin/bash

# Variables: assignment and substitution

a=375
hello=$a

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------
# No space permitted on either side of = sign when initializing variables.

# If "VARIABLE =value",
#+ script tries to run "VARIABLE" command with one argument, "=value".

# If "VARIABLE= value",
#+ script tries to run "value" command with
#+ the environmental variable "VARIABLE" set to "".
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------

echo hello # Not a variable reference, just the string "hello".

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Variable Substitution

echo $hello
echo ${hello} # Identical to above.

echo "$hello"
echo "${hello}"

echo

hello="A B C D"
echo $hello # A B C D
echo "$hello" # A B C D
# As you see, echo $hello and echo "$hello" give different results.
# Quoting a variable preserves whitespace.

echo

echo '$hello' # $hello

# Variable referencing disabled by single quotes,
#+ which causes the "$" to be interpreted literally.

# Notice the effect of different types of quoting.

hello= # Setting it to a null value.

echo "\$hello (null value) = $hello"
# Note that setting a variable to a null value is not the same as
#+ unsetting it, although the end result is the same (see below).

# --------------------------------------------------------------

# It is permissible to set multiple variables on the same line,

#+ if separated by white space.
# Caution, this may reduce legibility, and may not be portable.

var1=variable1 var2=variable2 var3=variable3

echo
echo "var1=$var1 var2=$var2 var3=$var3"

# May cause problems with older versions of "sh".

# --------------------------------------------------------------

echo; echo

numbers="one two three"

other_numbers="1 2 3"
# If whitespace within a variable, then quotes necessary.
echo "numbers = $numbers"
echo "other_numbers = $other_numbers" # other_numbers = 1 2 3
echo

echo "uninitialized_variable = $uninitialized_variable"

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Variable Substitution

# Uninitialized variable has null value (no value at all).

uninitialized_variable= # Declaring, but not initializing it
#+ (same as setting it to a null value, as above).
echo "uninitialized_variable = $uninitialized_variable"
# It still has a null value.

uninitialized_variable=23 # Set it.

unset uninitialized_variable # Unset it.
echo "uninitialized_variable = $uninitialized_variable"
# It still has a null value.

echo

exit 0

An uninitialized variable has a "null" value - no assigned value at all (not zero!). Using a
variable before assigning a value to it will inevitably cause problems.

Prev Home Next

Introduction to Variables and Up Variable Assignment
Parameters

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Quoting

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 6. Quoting
Quoting means just that, bracketing a string in quotes. This has the effect of protecting special characters in the string from
reinterpretation or expansion by the shell or shell script. (A character is "special" if it has an interpretation other than its literal
meaning, such as the wild card character, *.)

bash$ ls -l [Vv]*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 324 Apr 2 15:05 VIEWDATA.BAT
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 507 May 4 14:25 vartrace.sh
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 539 Apr 14 17:11 viewdata.sh

bash$ ls -l '[Vv]*'
ls: [Vv]*: No such file or directory

Certain programs and utilities can still reinterpret or expand special characters in a quoted string. This is an important
use of quoting, protecting a command-line parameter from the shell, but still letting the calling program expand it.

bash$ grep '[Ff]irst' *.txt

file1.txt:This is the first line of file1.txt.
file2.txt:This is the First line of file2.txt.

Of course, grep [Ff]irst *.txt would not work.

When referencing a variable, it is generally advisable in enclose it in double quotes (" "). This preserves all special characters
within the variable name, except $, ` (backquote), and \ (escape). Keeping $ as a special character permits referencing a quoted
variable ("$variable"), that is, replacing the variable with its value (see Example 5-1, above).

Use double quotes to prevent word splitting. [1] An argument enclosed in double quotes presents itself as a single word, even if
it contains whitespace separators.

variable1="a variable containing five words"

COMMAND This is $variable1 # Executes COMMAND with 7 arguments:
# "This" "is" "a" "variable" "containing" "five" "words"

COMMAND "This is $variable1" # Executes COMMAND with 1 argument:

# "This is a variable containing five words"

variable2="" # Empty.

COMMAND $variable2 $variable2 $variable2 # Executes COMMAND with no arguments.

COMMAND "$variable2" "$variable2" "$variable2" # Executes COMMAND with 3 empty
arguments.
COMMAND "$variable2 $variable2 $variable2" # Executes COMMAND with 1 argument (2
spaces).

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Quoting

# Thanks, S.C.

Enclosing the arguments to an echo statement in double quotes is necessary only when word splitting is an issue.

Example 6-1. Echoing Weird Variables

#!/bin/bash
# weirdvars.sh: Echoing weird variables.

var="'(]\\{}\$\""
echo $var # '(]\{}$"
echo "$var" # '(]\{}$" Doesn't make a difference.

echo

IFS='\'
echo $var # '(] {}$" \ converted to space.
echo "$var" # '(]\{}$"

# Examples above supplied by S.C.

exit 0

Single quotes (' ') operate similarly to double quotes, but do not permit referencing variables, since the special meaning of $ is
turned off. Within single quotes, every special character except ' gets interpreted literally. Consider single quotes ("full
quoting") to be a stricter method of quoting than double quotes ("partial quoting").

Since even the escape character (\) gets a literal interpretation within single quotes, trying to enclose a single quote
within single quotes will not yield the expected result.

echo "Why can't I write 's between single quotes"

echo

# The roundabout method.

echo 'Why can'\''t I write '"'"'s between single quotes'
# |-------| |----------| |-----------------------|
# Three single-quoted strings, with escaped and quoted single quotes between.

# This example courtesy of Stephane Chazelas.

Escaping is a method of quoting single characters. The escape (\) preceding a character tells the shell to interpret that character
literally.

With certain commands and utilities, such as echo and sed, escaping a character may have the opposite effect - it can
toggle on a special meaning for that character.

Special meanings of certain escaped characters

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Quoting

used with echo and sed

\n

means newline
\r

means return
\t

means tab
\v

means vertical tab

\b

means backspace
\a

means "alert" (beep or flash)

\0xx

translates to the octal ASCII equivalent of 0xx

Example 6-2. Escaped Characters

#!/bin/bash
# escaped.sh: escaped characters

echo; echo

echo "\v\v\v\v" # Prints \v\v\v\v

# Use the -e option with 'echo' to print escaped characters.
echo -e "\v\v\v\v" # Prints 4 vertical tabs.
echo -e "\042" # Prints " (quote, octal ASCII character 42).

# The $'\X' construct makes the -e option unnecessary.

echo $'\n' # Newline.
echo $'\a' # Alert (beep).

# Version 2 and later of Bash permits using the $'\xxx' construct.

echo $'\t \042 \t' # Quote (") framed by tabs.

# Assigning ASCII characters to a variable.

# ----------------------------------------
quote=$'\042' # " assigned to a variable.
echo "$quote This is a quoted string, $quote and this lies outside the quotes."

echo

# Concatenating ASCII chars in a variable.

triple_underline=$'\137\137\137' # 137 is octal ASCII code for '_'.
echo "$triple_underline UNDERLINE $triple_underline"

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Quoting

ABC=$'\101\102\103\010' # 101, 102, 103 are octal A, B, C.

echo $ABC

echo; echo

escape=$'\033' # 033 is octal for escape.

echo "\"escape\" echoes as $escape"
# no visible output.

echo; echo

exit 0

See Example 35-1 for another example of the $' ' string expansion construct.

\"

gives the quote its literal meaning

echo "Hello" # Hello

echo "\"Hello\", he said." # "Hello", he said.

\$

gives the dollar sign its literal meaning (variable name following \$ will not be referenced)

echo "\$variable01" # results in $variable01

\\

gives the backslash its literal meaning

echo "\\" # results in \

The behavior of \ depends on whether it is itself escaped, quoted, or appearing within command substitution or a here
document.

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Quoting

# Simple escaping and quoting

echo \z # z
echo \\z # \z
echo '\z' # \z
echo '\\z' # \\z
echo "\z" # \z
echo "\\z" # \z

# Command substitution
echo `echo \z` # z
echo `echo \\z` # z
echo `echo \\\z` # \z
echo `echo \\\\z` # \z
echo `echo \\\\\\z` # \z
echo `echo \\\\\\\z` # \\z
echo `echo "\z"` # \z
echo `echo "\\z"` # \z

# Here document
cat <<EOF
\z
EOF # \z

cat <<EOF
\\z
EOF # \z

# These examples supplied by Stephane Chazelas.

Elements of a string assigned to a variable may be escaped, but the escape character alone may not be assigned to a
variable.

variable=\
echo "$variable"
# Will not work - gives an error message:
# test.sh: : command not found
# A "naked" escape cannot safely be assigned to a variable.
#
# What actually happens here is that the "\" escapes the newline and
#+ the effect is variable=echo "$variable"
#+ invalid variable assignment

variable=\
23skidoo
echo "$variable" # 23skidoo
# This works, since the second line
#+ is a valid variable assignment.

variable=\
# \^ escape followed by space
echo "$variable" # space

variable=\\
echo "$variable" # \

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Quoting

variable=\\\
echo "$variable"
# Will not work - gives an error message:
# test.sh: \: command not found
#
# First escape escapes second one, but the third one is left "naked",
#+ with same result as first instance, above.

variable=\\\\
echo "$variable" # \\
# Second and fourth escapes escaped.
# This is o.k.

Escaping a space can prevent word splitting in a command's argument list.

file_list="/bin/cat /bin/gzip /bin/more /usr/bin/less /usr/bin/emacs-20.7"

# List of files as argument(s) to a command.

# Add two files to the list, and list all.

ls -l /usr/X11R6/bin/xsetroot /sbin/dump $file_list

echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------------"

# What happens if we escape a couple of spaces?

ls -l /usr/X11R6/bin/xsetroot\ /sbin/dump\ $file_list
# Error: the first three files concatenated into a single argument to 'ls -l'
# because the two escaped spaces prevent argument (word) splitting.

The escape also provides a means of writing a multi-line command. Normally, each separate line constitutes a different
command, but an escape at the end of a line escapes the newline character, and the command sequence continues on to the next
line.

(cd /source/directory && tar cf - . ) | \

(cd /dest/directory && tar xpvf -)
# Repeating Alan Cox's directory tree copy command,
# but split into two lines for increased legibility.

# As an alternative:
tar cf - -C /source/directory . |
tar xpvf - -C /dest/directory
# See note below.
# (Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.)

If a script line ends with a |, a pipe character, then a \, an escape, is not strictly necessary. It is, however, good
programming practice to always escape the end of a line of code that continues to the following line.

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Quoting

echo "foo
bar"
#foo
#bar

echo

echo 'foo
bar' # No difference yet.
#foo
#bar

echo

echo foo\
bar # Newline escaped.
#foobar

echo

echo "foo\
bar" # Same here, as \ still interpreted as escape within weak quotes.
#foobar

echo

echo 'foo\
bar' # Escape character \ taken literally because of strong quoting.
#foor\
#bar

# Examples suggested by Stephane Chazelas.

Notes

[1] "Word splitting", in this context, means dividing a character string into a number of separate and discrete arguments.

Prev Home Next

Special Variable Types Up Tests

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Command Substitution

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 14. Command Substitution

Command substitution reassigns the output of a command [1] or even multiple commands; it literally plugs the command
output into another context.

The classic form of command substitution uses backquotes (`...`). Commands within backquotes (backticks) generate command
line text.

script_name=`basename $0`
echo "The name of this script is $script_name."

The output of commands can be used as arguments to another command, to set a variable, and even for generating the
argument list in a for loop.

rm `cat filename` # "filename" contains a list of files to delete.

#
# S. C. points out that "arg list too long" error might result.
# Better is xargs rm -- < filename
# ( -- covers those cases where "filename" begins with a "-" )

textfile_listing=`ls *.txt`
# Variable contains names of all *.txt files in current working directory.
echo $textfile_listing

textfile_listing2=$(ls *.txt) # The alternative form of command substitution.

echo $textfile_listing
# Same result.

# A possible problem with putting a list of files into a single string

# is that a newline may creep in.
#
# A safer way to assign a list of files to a parameter is with an array.
# shopt -s nullglob # If no match, filename expands to nothing.
# textfile_listing=( *.txt )
#
# Thanks, S.C.

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Command Substitution

Command substitution may result in word splitting.

COMMAND `echo a b` # 2 args: a and b

COMMAND "`echo a b`" # 1 arg: "a b"

COMMAND `echo` # no arg

COMMAND "`echo`" # one empty arg

# Thanks, S.C.

Even when there is no word splitting, command substitution can remove trailing newlines.

# cd "`pwd`" # This should always work.

# However...

mkdir 'dir with trailing newline

'

cd 'dir with trailing newline

'

cd "`pwd`" # Error message:

# bash: cd: /tmp/file with trailing newline: No such file or directory

cd "$PWD" # Works fine.

old_tty_setting=$(stty -g) # Save old terminal setting.

echo "Hit a key "
stty -icanon -echo # Disable "canonical" mode for terminal.
# Also, disable *local* echo.
key=$(dd bs=1 count=1 2> /dev/null) # Using 'dd' to get a keypress.
stty "$old_tty_setting" # Restore old setting.
echo "You hit ${#key} key." # ${#variable} = number of characters in $variable
#
# Hit any key except RETURN, and the output is "You hit 1 key."
# Hit RETURN, and it's "You hit 0 key."
# The newline gets eaten in the command substitution.

Thanks, S.C.

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Command Substitution

Using echo to output an unquoted variable set with command substitution removes trailing newlines characters from the
output of the reassigned command(s). This can cause unpleasant surprises.

dir_listing=`ls -l`
echo $dir_listing # unquoted

# Expecting a nicely ordered directory listing.

# However, what you get is:

# total 3 -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 30 May 13 17:15 1.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo
# bozo 51 May 15 20:57 t2.sh -rwxr-xr-x 1 bozo bozo 217 Mar 5 21:13 wi.sh

# The newlines disappeared.

echo "$dir_listing" # quoted

# -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo 30 May 13 17:15 1.txt
# -rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo 51 May 15 20:57 t2.sh
# -rwxr-xr-x 1 bozo 217 Mar 5 21:13 wi.sh

Command substitution even permits setting a variable to the contents of a file, using either redirection or the cat command.

variable1=`<file1` # Set "variable1" to contents of "file1".

variable2=`cat file2` # Set "variable2" to contents of "file2".

# Be aware that the variables may contain embedded whitespace,

#+ or even (horrors), control characters.

# Excerpts from system file, /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit

#+ (on a Red Hat Linux installation)

if [ -f /fsckoptions ]; then
fsckoptions=`cat /fsckoptions`
...
fi
#
#
if [ -e "/proc/ide/${disk[$device]}/media" ] ; then
hdmedia=`cat /proc/ide/${disk[$device]}/media`
...
fi
#
#
if [ ! -n "`uname -r | grep -- "-"`" ]; then
ktag="`cat /proc/version`"
...
fi
#
#
if [ $usb = "1" ]; then

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Command Substitution

sleep 5
mouseoutput=`cat /proc/bus/usb/devices 2>/dev/null|grep -E "^I.*Cls=03.*Prot=02"`
kbdoutput=`cat /proc/bus/usb/devices 2>/dev/null|grep -E "^I.*Cls=03.*Prot=01"`
...
fi

Do not set a variable to the contents of a long text file unless you have a very good reason for doing so. Do not set a
variable to the contents of a binary file, even as a joke.

Example 14-1. Stupid script tricks

#!/bin/bash
# stupid-script-tricks.sh: Don't try this at home, folks.

dangerous_variable=`cat /boot/vmlinuz` # The compressed Linux kernel itself.

echo "string-length of \$dangerous_variable = ${#dangerous_variable}"

# string-length of $dangerous_variable = 794151
# (Does not give same count as 'wc -c /boot/vmlinuz'.)

# echo "$dangerous_variable"
# Don't try this! It would hang the script.

# The document author is aware of no useful applications for

#+ setting a variable to the contents of a binary file.

exit 0

Notice that a buffer overrun does not occur. This is one instance where an interpreted language, such as Bash, provides
more protection from programmer mistakes than a compiled language.

Command substitution permits setting a variable to the output of a loop. The key to this is grabbing the output of an echo
command within the loop.

Example 14-2. Generating a variable from a loop

#!/bin/bash
# csubloop.sh: Setting a variable to the output of a loop.

variable1=`for i in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo -n "$i" # The 'echo' command is critical
done` #+ to command substitution.

echo "variable1 = $variable1" # variable1 = 12345

i=0
variable2=`while [ "$i" -lt 10 ]
do

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Command Substitution

echo -n "$i" # Again, the necessary 'echo'.

let "i += 1" # Increment.
done`

echo "variable2 = $variable2" # variable2 = 0123456789

exit 0

Command substitution makes it possible to extend the toolset available to Bash. It is simply a matter of writing a program or
script that outputs to stdout (like a well-behaved UNIX tool should) and assigning that output to a variable.

#include <stdio.h>

/* "Hello, world." C program */

int main()
{
printf( "Hello, world." );
return (0);
}

bash$ gcc -o hello hello.c

#!/bin/bash
# hello.sh

greeting=`./hello`
echo $greeting

bash$ sh hello.sh
Hello, world.

The $(COMMAND) form has superseded backticks for command substitution.

output=$(sed -n /"$1"/p $file)

# From "grp.sh" example.

Examples of command substitution in shell scripts:

1. Example 10-7
2. Example 10-25
3. Example 9-23
4. Example 12-2

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Command Substitution

5. Example 12-15
6. Example 12-12
7. Example 12-38
8. Example 10-13
9. Example 10-10
10. Example 12-24
11. Example 16-7
12. Example A-17
13. Example 28-1
14. Example 12-32
15. Example 12-33
16. Example 12-34

Notes

[1] For purposes of command substitution, a command may be an external system command, an internal scripting builtin,
or even a script function.

Prev Home Next

System and Administrative Commands Up Arithmetic Expansion

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Math Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.8. Math Commands

"Doing the numbers"

factor

Decompose an integer into prime factors.

bash$ factor 27417

27417: 3 13 19 37

bc, dc

These are flexible, arbitrary precision calculation utilities.

bc has a syntax vaguely resembling C.

dc is stack-oriented and uses RPN ("Reverse Polish Notation").

Of the two, bc seems more useful in scripting. It is a fairly well-behaved UNIX utility, and may therefore be used in a
pipe.

Bash can't handle floating point calculations, and it lacks operators for certain important mathematical functions.
Fortunately, bc comes to the rescue.

Here is a simple template for using bc to calculate a script variable. This uses command substitution.

variable=$(echo "OPTIONS; OPERATIONS" | bc)

Example 12-32. Monthly Payment on a Mortgage

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Math Commands

#!/bin/bash
# monthlypmt.sh: Calculates monthly payment on a mortgage.

# This is a modification of code in the "mcalc" (mortgage calculator) package,

# by Jeff Schmidt and Mendel Cooper (yours truly, the author of this document).
# http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/apps/financial/mcalc-1.6.tar.gz [15k]

echo
echo "Given the principal, interest rate, and term of a mortgage,"
echo "calculate the monthly payment."

bottom=1.0

echo
echo -n "Enter principal (no commas) "
read principal
echo -n "Enter interest rate (percent) " # If 12%, enter "12", not ".12".
read interest_r
echo -n "Enter term (months) "
read term

interest_r=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_r/100.0" | bc) # Convert to decimal.

# "scale" determines how many decimal places.

interest_rate=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_r/12 + 1.0" | bc)

top=$(echo "scale=9; $principal*$interest_rate^$term" | bc)

echo; echo "Please be patient. This may take a while."

let "months = $term - 1"

# ====================================================================
for ((x=$months; x > 0; x--))
do
bot=$(echo "scale=9; $interest_rate^$x" | bc)
bottom=$(echo "scale=9; $bottom+$bot" | bc)
# bottom = $(($bottom + $bot"))
done
# --------------------------------------------------------------------
# Rick Boivie pointed out a more efficient implementation
#+ of the above loop, which decreases computation time by 2/3.

# for ((x=1; x <= $months; x++))

# do
# bottom=$(echo "scale=9; $bottom * $interest_rate + 1" | bc)
# done

# And then he came up with an even more efficient alternative,

#+ one that cuts down the run time by about 95%!

# bottom=`{
# echo "scale=9; bottom=$bottom; interest_rate=$interest_rate"

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Math Commands

# for ((x=1; x <= $months; x++))

# do
# echo 'bottom = bottom * interest_rate + 1'
# done
# echo 'bottom'
# } | bc` # Embeds a 'for loop' within command substitution.

# ====================================================================

# let "payment = $top/$bottom"

payment=$(echo "scale=2; $top/$bottom" | bc)
# Use two decimal places for dollars and cents.

echo
echo "monthly payment = \$$payment" # Echo a dollar sign in front of amount.
echo

exit 0

# Exercises:
# 1) Filter input to permit commas in principal amount.
# 2) Filter input to permit interest to be entered as percent or decimal.
# 3) If you are really ambitious,
# expand this script to print complete amortization tables.

Example 12-33. Base Conversion

:
##########################################################################
# Shellscript: base.sh - print number to different bases (Bourne Shell)
# Author : Heiner Steven ([email protected])
# Date : 07-03-95
# Category : Desktop
# $Id: base.sh,v 1.2 2000/02/06 19:55:35 heiner Exp $
##########################################################################
# Description
#
# Changes
# 21-03-95 stv fixed error occuring with 0xb as input (0.2)
##########################################################################

# ==> Used in this document with the script author's permission.

# ==> Comments added by document author.

NOARGS=65
PN=`basename "$0"` # Program name
VER=`echo '$Revision: 1.2 $' | cut -d' ' -f2` # ==> VER=1.2

Usage () {
echo "$PN - print number to different bases, $VER (stv '95)
usage: $PN [number ...]

If no number is given, the numbers are read from standard input.

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Math Commands

A number may be
binary (base 2) starting with 0b (i.e. 0b1100)
octal (base 8) starting with 0 (i.e. 014)
hexadecimal (base 16) starting with 0x (i.e. 0xc)
decimal otherwise (i.e. 12)" >&2
exit $NOARGS
} # ==> Function to print usage message.

Msg () {
for i # ==> in [list] missing.
do echo "$PN: $i" >&2
done
}

Fatal () { Msg "$@"; exit 66; }

PrintBases () {
# Determine base of the number
for i # ==> in [list] missing...
do # ==> so operates on command line arg(s).
case "$i" in
0b*) ibase=2;; # binary
0x*|[a-f]*|[A-F]*) ibase=16;; # hexadecimal
0*) ibase=8;; # octal
[1-9]*) ibase=10;; # decimal
*)
Msg "illegal number $i - ignored"
continue;;
esac

# Remove prefix, convert hex digits to uppercase (bc needs this)

number=`echo "$i" | sed -e 's:^0[bBxX]::' | tr '[a-f]' '[A-F]'`
# ==> Uses ":" as sed separator, rather than "/".

# Convert number to decimal

dec=`echo "ibase=$ibase; $number" | bc` # ==> 'bc' is calculator utility.
case "$dec" in
[0-9]*) ;; # number ok
*) continue;; # error: ignore
esac

# Print all conversions in one line.

# ==> 'here document' feeds command list to 'bc'.
echo `bc <<!
obase=16; "hex="; $dec
obase=10; "dec="; $dec
obase=8; "oct="; $dec
obase=2; "bin="; $dec
!
` | sed -e 's: : :g'

done
}

while [ $# -gt 0 ]
do

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Math Commands

case "$1" in
--) shift; break;;
-h) Usage;; # ==> Help message.
-*) Usage;;
*) break;; # first number
esac # ==> More error checking for illegal input would be useful.
shift
done

if [ $# -gt 0 ]
then
PrintBases "$@"
else # read from stdin
while read line
do
PrintBases $line
done
fi

An alternate method of invoking bc involves using a here document embedded within a command substitution block. This is
especially appropriate when a script needs to pass a list of options and commands to bc.

variable=`bc << LIMIT_STRING

options
statements
operations
LIMIT_STRING
`

...or...

variable=$(bc << LIMIT_STRING

options
statements
operations
LIMIT_STRING
)

Example 12-34. Another way to invoke bc

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Math Commands

#!/bin/bash
# Invoking 'bc' using command substitution
# in combination with a 'here document'.

var1=`bc << EOF

18.33 * 19.78
EOF
`
echo $var1 # 362.56

# $( ... ) notation also works.

v1=23.53
v2=17.881
v3=83.501
v4=171.63

var2=$(bc << EOF

scale = 4
a = ( $v1 + $v2 )
b = ( $v3 * $v4 )
a * b + 15.35
EOF
)
echo $var2 # 593487.8452

var3=$(bc -l << EOF

scale = 9
s ( 1.7 )
EOF
)
# Returns the sine of 1.7 radians.
# The "-l" option calls the 'bc' math library.
echo $var3 # .991664810

# Now, try it in a function...

hyp= # Declare global variable.
hypotenuse () # Calculate hypotenuse of a right triangle.
{
hyp=$(bc -l << EOF
scale = 9
sqrt ( $1 * $1 + $2 * $2 )
EOF
)
# Unfortunately, can't return floating point values from a Bash function.
}

hypotenuse 3.68 7.31

echo "hypotenuse = $hyp" # 8.184039344

exit 0

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Math Commands

Most persons avoid dc, since it requires non-intuitive RPN input. Yet it has its uses.

Example 12-35. Converting a decimal number to hexadecimal

#!/bin/bash
# hexconvert.sh: Convert a decimal number to hexadecimal.

BASE=16 # Hexadecimal.

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: $0 number"
exit $E_NOARGS
# Need a command line argument.
fi
# Exercise: add argument validity checking.

hexcvt ()
{
if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo 0
return # "Return" 0 if no arg passed to function.
fi

echo ""$1" "$BASE" o p" | dc

# "o" sets radix (numerical base) of output.
# "p" prints the top of stack.
# See 'man dc' for other options.
return
}

hexcvt "$1"

exit 0

Studying the info page for dc gives some insight into its intricacies. However, there seems to be a small, select group of dc
wizards who delight in showing off their mastery of this powerful, but arcane utility.

Example 12-36. Factoring

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Math Commands

#!/bin/bash
# factr.sh: Factor a number

MIN=2 # Will not work for number smaller than this.

E_NOARGS=65
E_TOOSMALL=66

if [ -z $1 ]
then
echo "Usage: $0 number"
exit $E_NOARGS
fi

if [ "$1" -lt "$MIN" ]

then
echo "Number to factor must be $MIN or greater."
exit $E_TOOSMALL
fi

# Exercise: Add type checking (to reject non-integer arg).

echo "Factors of $1:"

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo "$1[p]s2[lip/dli%0=1dvsr]s12sid2%0=13sidvsr[dli%0=1lrli2+dsi!>.]ds.xd1<2" | dc
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Above line of code written by Michel Charpentier <[email protected]>.
# Used with permission (thanks).

exit 0

awk

Yet another way of doing floating point math in a script is using awk's built-in math functions in a shell wrapper.

Example 12-37. Calculating the hypotenuse of a triangle

#!/bin/bash
# hypotenuse.sh: Returns the "hypotenuse" of a right triangle.
# ( square root of sum of squares of the "legs")

ARGS=2 # Script needs sides of triangle passed.

E_BADARGS=65 # Wrong number of arguments.

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # Test number of arguments to script.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` side_1 side_2"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

AWKSCRIPT=' { printf( "%3.7f\n", sqrt($1*$1 + $2*$2) ) } '

# command(s) / parameters passed to awk

echo -n "Hypotenuse of $1 and $2 = "

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Math Commands

echo $1 $2 | awk "$AWKSCRIPT"

exit 0

Prev Home Next

Terminal Control Commands Up Miscellaneous Commands

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Internal Variables

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.1. Internal Variables

Builtin variables

variables affecting bash script behavior

$BASH

the path to the Bash binary itself

bash$ echo $BASH

/bin/bash

$BASH_ENV

an environmental variable pointing to a Bash startup file to be read when a script is invoked
$BASH_VERSINFO[n]

a 6-element array containing version information about the installed release of Bash. This is similar to $BASH_VERSION,
below, but a bit more detailed.

# Bash version info:

for n in 0 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo "BASH_VERSINFO[$n] = ${BASH_VERSINFO[$n]}"
done

# BASH_VERSINFO[0] = 2 # Major version no.

# BASH_VERSINFO[1] = 05 # Minor version no.
# BASH_VERSINFO[2] = 8 # Patch level.
# BASH_VERSINFO[3] = 1 # Build version.
# BASH_VERSINFO[4] = release # Release status.
# BASH_VERSINFO[5] = i386-redhat-linux-gnu # Architecture
# (same as $MACHTYPE).

$BASH_VERSION

the version of Bash installed on the system

bash$ echo $BASH_VERSION

2.04.12(1)-release

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Internal Variables

tcsh% echo $BASH_VERSION

BASH_VERSION: Undefined variable.

Checking $BASH_VERSION is a good method of determining which shell is running. $SHELL does not necessarily give
the correct answer.
$DIRSTACK

the top value in the directory stack (affected by pushd and popd)

This builtin variable corresponds to the dirs command, however dirs shows the entire contents of the directory stack.
$EDITOR

the default editor invoked by a script, usually vi or emacs.

$EUID

"effective" user id number

Identification number of whatever identity the current user has assumed, perhaps by means of su.

The $EUID is not necessarily the same as the $UID.

$FUNCNAME

name of the current function

xyz23 ()
{
echo "$FUNCNAME now executing." # xyz23 now executing.
}

xyz23

echo "FUNCNAME = $FUNCNAME" # FUNCNAME =

# Null value outside a function.

$GLOBIGNORE

A list of filename patterns to be excluded from matching in globbing.

$GROUPS

groups current user belongs to

This is a listing (array) of the group id numbers for current user, as recorded in /etc/passwd.

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Internal Variables

root# echo $GROUPS

0

root# echo ${GROUPS[1]}

1

root# echo ${GROUPS[5]}

6

$HOME

home directory of the user, usually /home/username (see Example 9-12)

$HOSTNAME

The hostname command assigns the system name at bootup in an init script. However, the gethostname() function sets
the Bash internal variable $HOSTNAME. See also Example 9-12.
$HOSTTYPE

host type

Like $MACHTYPE, identifies the system hardware.

bash$ echo $HOSTTYPE

i686

$IFS

input field separator

This defaults to whitespace (space, tab, and newline), but may be changed, for example, to parse a comma-separated data
file. Note that $* uses the first character held in $IFS. See Example 6-1.

bash$ echo $IFS | cat -vte

$

bash$ bash -c 'set w x y z; IFS=":-;"; echo "$*"'

w:x:y:z

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Internal Variables

$IFS does not handle whitespace the same as it does other characters.

Example 9-1. $IFS and whitespace

#!/bin/bash
# $IFS treats whitespace differently than other characters.

output_args_one_per_line()
{
for arg
do echo "[$arg]"
done
}

echo; echo "IFS=\" \""

echo "-------"

IFS=" "
var=" a b c "
output_args_one_per_line $var # output_args_one_per_line `echo " a b c "`
#
# [a]
# [b]
# [c]

echo; echo "IFS=:"

echo "-----"

IFS=:
var=":a::b:c:::" # Same as above, but substitute ":" for " ".
output_args_one_per_line $var
#
# []
# [a]
# []
# [b]
# [c]
# []
# []
# []

# The same thing happens with the "FS" field separator in awk.

# Thank you, Stephane Chazelas.

echo

exit 0

(Thanks, S. C., for clarification and examples.)

$IGNOREEOF

ignore EOF: how many end-of-files (control-D) the shell will ignore before logging out.
$LC_COLLATE

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Internal Variables

Often set in the .bashrc or /etc/profile files, this variable controls collation order in filename expansion and
pattern matching. If mishandled, LC_COLLATE can cause unexpected results in filename globbing.

As of version 2.05 of Bash, filename globbing no longer distinguishes between lowercase and uppercase
letters in a character range between brackets. For example, ls [A-M]* would match both File1.txt and
file1.txt. To revert to the customary behavior of bracket matching, set LC_COLLATE to C by an
export LC_COLLATE=C in /etc/profile and/or ~/.bashrc.
$LC_CTYPE

This internal variable controls character interpretation in globbing and pattern matching.
$LINENO

This variable is the line number of the shell script in which this variable appears. It has significance only within the script in
which it appears, and is chiefly useful for debugging purposes.

# *** BEGIN DEBUG BLOCK ***

last_cmd_arg=$_ # Save it.

echo "At line number $LINENO, variable \"v1\" = $v1"

echo "Last command argument processed = $last_cmd_arg"
# *** END DEBUG BLOCK ***

$MACHTYPE

machine type

Identifies the system hardware.

bash$ echo $MACHTYPE

i686-debian-linux-gnu

$OLDPWD

old working directory ("OLD-print-working-directory", previous directory you were in)

$OSTYPE

operating system type

bash$ echo $OSTYPE

linux-gnu

$PATH

path to binaries, usually /usr/bin/, /usr/X11R6/bin/, /usr/local/bin, etc.

When given a command, the shell automatically does a hash table search on the directories listed in the path for the
executable. The path is stored in the environmental variable, $PATH, a list of directories, separated by colons. Normally,
the system stores the $PATH definition in /etc/profile and/or ~/.bashrc (see Chapter 27).

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Internal Variables

bash$ echo $PATH

/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin

PATH=${PATH}:/opt/bin appends the /opt/bin directory to the current path. In a script, it may be expedient to
temporarily add a directory to the path in this way. When the script exits, this restores the original $PATH (a child process,
such as a script, may not change the environment of the parent process, the shell).

The current "working directory", ./, is usually omitted from the $PATH as a security measure.
$PIPESTATUS

Exit status of last executed pipe. Interestingly enough, this does not give the same result as the exit status of the last
executed command.

bash$ echo $PIPESTATUS

0

bash$ ls -al | bogus_command

bash: bogus_command: command not found
bash$ echo $PIPESTATUS
141

bash$ ls -al | bogus_command

bash: bogus_command: command not found
bash$ echo $?
127

$PPID

The $PPID of a process is the process id (pid) of its parent process. [1]

Compare this with the pidof command.

$PS1

This is the main prompt, seen at the command line.

$PS2

The secondary prompt, seen when additional input is expected. It displays as ">".
$PS3

The tertiary prompt, displayed in a select loop (see Example 10-28).

$PS4

The quartenary prompt, shown at the beginning of each line of output when invoking a script with the -x option. It displays
as "+".
$PWD

working directory (directory you are in at the time)

This is the analog to the pwd builtin command.

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Internal Variables

#!/bin/bash

E_WRONG_DIRECTORY=73

clear # Clear screen.

TargetDirectory=/home/bozo/projects/GreatAmericanNovel

cd $TargetDirectory
echo "Deleting stale files in $TargetDirectory."

if [ "$PWD" != "$TargetDirectory" ]
then # Keep from wiping out wrong directory by accident.
echo "Wrong directory!"
echo "In $PWD, rather than $TargetDirectory!"
echo "Bailing out!"
exit $E_WRONG_DIRECTORY
fi

rm -rf *
rm .[A-Za-z0-9]* # Delete dotfiles.
# rm -f .[^.]* ..?* to remove filenames beginning with multiple dots.
# (shopt -s dotglob; rm -f *) will also work.
# Thanks, S.C. for pointing this out.

# Filenames may contain all characters in the 0 - 255 range, except "/".
# Deleting files beginning with weird characters is left as an exercise.

# Various other operations here, as necessary.

echo
echo "Done."
echo "Old files deleted in $TargetDirectory."
echo

exit 0

$REPLY

The default value when a variable is not supplied to read. Also applicable to select menus, but only supplies the item
number of the variable chosen, not the value of the variable itself.

#!/bin/bash

echo
echo -n "What is your favorite vegetable? "
read

echo "Your favorite vegetable is $REPLY."

# REPLY holds the value of last "read" if and only if
# no variable supplied.

echo
echo -n "What is your favorite fruit? "
read fruit

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Internal Variables

echo "Your favorite fruit is $fruit."

echo "but..."
echo "Value of \$REPLY is still $REPLY."
# $REPLY is still set to its previous value because
# the variable $fruit absorbed the new "read" value.

echo

exit 0

$SECONDS

The number of seconds the script has been running.

#!/bin/bash

ENDLESS_LOOP=1
INTERVAL=1

echo
echo "Hit Control-C to exit this script."
echo

while [ $ENDLESS_LOOP ]
do
if [ "$SECONDS" -eq 1 ]
then
units=second
else
units=seconds
fi

echo "This script has been running $SECONDS $units."

sleep $INTERVAL
done

exit 0

$SHELLOPTS

the list of enabled shell options, a readonly variable

bash$ echo $SHELLOPTS

braceexpand:hashall:histexpand:monitor:history:interactive-comments:emacs

$SHLVL

Shell level, how deeply Bash is nested. If, at the command line, $SHLVL is 1, then in a script it will increment to 2.
$TMOUT

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Internal Variables

If the $TMOUT environmental variable is set to a non-zero value time, then the shell prompt will time out after time seconds.
This will cause a logout.

Unfortunately, this works only while waiting for input at the shell prompt console or in an xterm. While it
would be nice to speculate on the uses of this internal variable for timed input, for example in combination
with read, $TMOUT does not work in that context and is virtually useless for shell scripting. (Reportedly the
ksh version of a timed read does work.)

Implementing timed input in a script is certainly possible, but may require complex machinations. One method is to set up a timing
loop to signal the script when it times out. This also requires a signal handling routine to trap (see Example 30-5) the interrupt
generated by the timing loop (whew!).

Example 9-2. Timed Input

#!/bin/bash
# timed-input.sh

# TMOUT=3 useless in a script

TIMELIMIT=3 # Three seconds in this instance, may be set to different value.

PrintAnswer()
{
if [ "$answer" = TIMEOUT ]
then
echo $answer
else # Don't want to mix up the two instances.
echo "Your favorite veggie is $answer"
kill $! # Kills no longer needed TimerOn function running in background.
# $! is PID of last job running in background.
fi

TimerOn()
{
sleep $TIMELIMIT && kill -s 14 $$ &
# Waits 3 seconds, then sends sigalarm to script.
}

Int14Vector()
{
answer="TIMEOUT"
PrintAnswer
exit 14
}

trap Int14Vector 14 # Timer interrupt (14) subverted for our purposes.

echo "What is your favorite vegetable "

TimerOn
read answer
PrintAnswer

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Internal Variables

# Admittedly, this is a kludgy implementation of timed input,

#+ however the "-t" option to "read" simplifies this task.
# See "t-out.sh", below.

# If you need something really elegant...

#+ consider writing the application in C or C++,
#+ using appropriate library functions, such as 'alarm' and 'setitimer'.

exit 0

An alternative is using stty.

Example 9-3. Once more, timed input

#!/bin/bash
# timeout.sh

# Written by Stephane Chazelas,

# and modified by the document author.

INTERVAL=5 # timeout interval

timedout_read() {
timeout=$1
varname=$2
old_tty_settings=`stty -g`
stty -icanon min 0 time ${timeout}0
eval read $varname # or just read $varname
stty "$old_tty_settings"
# See man page for "stty".
}

echo; echo -n "What's your name? Quick! "

timedout_read $INTERVAL your_name

# This may not work on every terminal type.

# The maximum timeout depends on the terminal.
# (it is often 25.5 seconds).

echo

if [ ! -z "$your_name" ] # If name input before timeout...

then
echo "Your name is $your_name."
else
echo "Timed out."
fi

echo

# The behavior of this script differs somewhat from "timed-input.sh".

# At each keystroke, the counter resets.

exit 0

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Internal Variables

Perhaps the simplest method is using the -t option to read.

Example 9-4. Timed read

#!/bin/bash
# t-out.sh (per a suggestion by "syngin seven)

TIMELIMIT=4 # 4 seconds

read -t $TIMELIMIT variable <&1

echo

if [ -z "$variable" ]
then
echo "Timed out, variable still unset."
else
echo "variable = $variable"
fi

exit 0

$UID

user id number

current user's user identification number, as recorded in /etc/passwd

This is the current user's real id, even if she has temporarily assumed another identity through su. $UID is a readonly
variable, not subject to change from the command line or within a script, and is the counterpart to the id builtin.

Example 9-5. Am I root?

#!/bin/bash
# am-i-root.sh: Am I root or not?

ROOT_UID=0 # Root has $UID 0.

if [ "$UID" -eq "$ROOT_UID" ] # Will the real "root" please stand up?
then
echo "You are root."
else
echo "You are just an ordinary user (but mom loves you just the same)."
fi

exit 0

# ============================================================= #
# Code below will not execute, because the script already exited.

# An alternate method of getting to the root of matters:

ROOTUSER_NAME=root

username=`id -nu` # Or... username=`whoami`

if [ "$username" = "$ROOTUSER_NAME" ]

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Internal Variables

then
echo "Rooty, toot, toot. You are root."
else
echo "You are just a regular fella."
fi

See also Example 2-2.

The variables $ENV, $LOGNAME, $MAIL, $TERM, $USER, and $USERNAME are not Bash builtins. These
are, however, often set as environmental variables in one of the Bash startup files. $SHELL, the name of the
user's login shell, may be set from /etc/passwd or in an "init" script, and it is likewise not a Bash builtin.

tcsh% echo $LOGNAME

bozo
tcsh% echo $SHELL
/bin/tcsh
tcsh% echo $TERM
rxvt

bash$ echo $LOGNAME

bozo
bash$ echo $SHELL
/bin/tcsh
bash$ echo $TERM
rxvt

Positional Parameters

$0, $1, $2, etc.

positional parameters, passed from command line to script, passed to a function, or set to a variable (see Example 5-5 and
Example 11-11)
$#

number of command line arguments [2] or positional parameters (see Example 34-2)
$*

All of the positional parameters, seen as a single word

$@

Same as $*, but each parameter is a quoted string, that is, the parameters are passed on intact, without interpretation or
expansion. This means, among other things, that each parameter in the argument list is seen as a separate word.

Example 9-6. arglist: Listing arguments with $* and $@

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Internal Variables

#!/bin/bash
# Invoke this script with several arguments, such as "one two three".

E_BADARGS=65

if [ ! -n "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` argument1 argument2 etc."
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

echo

index=1

echo "Listing args with \"\$*\":"

for arg in "$*" # Doesn't work properly if "$*" isn't quoted.
do
echo "Arg #$index = $arg"
let "index+=1"
done # $* sees all arguments as single word.
echo "Entire arg list seen as single word."

echo

index=1

echo "Listing args with \"\$@\":"

for arg in "$@"
do
echo "Arg #$index = $arg"
let "index+=1"
done # $@ sees arguments as separate words.
echo "Arg list seen as separate words."

echo

exit 0

Following a shift, the $@ holds the remaining command-line parameters, lacking the previous $1, which was lost.

#!/bin/bash
# Invoke with ./scriptname 1 2 3 4 5

echo "$@" # 1 2 3 4 5
shift
echo "$@" # 2 3 4 5
shift
echo "$@" # 3 4 5

# Each "shift" loses parameter $1.

# "$@" then contains the remaining parameters.

The $@ special parameter finds use as a tool for filtering input into shell scripts. The cat "$@" construction accepts input to a
script either from stdin or from files given as parameters to the script. See Example 12-17 and Example 12-18.

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Internal Variables

The $* and $@ parameters sometimes display inconsistent and puzzling behavior, depending on the setting of
$IFS.

Example 9-7. Inconsistent $* and $@ behavior

#!/bin/bash

# Erratic behavior of the "$*" and "$@" internal Bash variables,

# depending on whether these are quoted or not.
# Word splitting and linefeeds handled inconsistently.

# This example script by Stephane Chazelas,

# and slightly modified by the document author.

set -- "First one" "second" "third:one" "" "Fifth: :one"

# Setting the script arguments, $1, $2, etc.

echo

echo 'IFS unchanged, using "$*"'

c=0
for i in "$*" # quoted
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]" # This line remains the same in every instance.
# Echo args.
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS unchanged, using $*'

c=0
for i in $* # unquoted
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS unchanged, using "$@"'

c=0
for i in "$@"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS unchanged, using $@'

c=0
for i in $@
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

IFS=:
echo 'IFS=":", using "$*"'
c=0
for i in "$*"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

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Internal Variables

echo 'IFS=":", using $*'

c=0
for i in $*
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

var=$*
echo 'IFS=":", using "$var" (var=$*)'
c=0
for i in "$var"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using $var (var=$*)'

c=0
for i in $var
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

var="$*"
echo 'IFS=":", using $var (var="$*")'
c=0
for i in $var
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using "$var" (var="$*")'

c=0
for i in "$var"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using "$@"'

c=0
for i in "$@"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using $@'

c=0
for i in $@
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

var=$@
echo 'IFS=":", using $var (var=$@)'
c=0
for i in $var
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done

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Internal Variables

echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using "$var" (var=$@)'

c=0
for i in "$var"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

var="$@"
echo 'IFS=":", using "$var" (var="$@")'
c=0
for i in "$var"
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done
echo ---

echo 'IFS=":", using $var (var="$@")'

c=0
for i in $var
do echo "$((c+=1)): [$i]"
done

echo

# Try this script with ksh or zsh -y.

exit 0

The $@ and $* parameters differ only when between double quotes.

Example 9-8. $* and $@ when $IFS is empty

#!/bin/bash

# If $IFS set, but empty,

# then "$*" and "$@" do not echo positional params as expected.

mecho () # Echo positional parameters.

{
echo "$1,$2,$3";
}

IFS="" # Set, but empty.

set a b c # Positional parameters.

mecho "$*" # abc,,

mecho $* # a,b,c

mecho $@ # a,b,c
mecho "$@" # a,b,c

# The behavior of $* and $@ when $IFS is empty depends

# on whatever Bash or sh version being run.
# It is therefore inadvisable to depend on this "feature" in a script.

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Internal Variables

# Thanks, S.C.

exit 0

Other Special Parameters

$-

Flags passed to script

This was originally a ksh construct adopted into Bash, and unfortunately it does not seem to work reliably in
Bash scripts. One possible use for it is to have a script self-test whether it is interactive.
$!

PID (process id) of last job run in background

$_

Special variable set to last argument of previous command executed.

Example 9-9. underscore variable

#!/bin/bash

echo $_ # /bin/bash
# Just called /bin/bash to run the script.

du >/dev/null # So no output from command.

echo $_ # du

ls -al >/dev/null # So no output from command.

echo $_ # -al (last argument)

:
echo $_ # :

$?

exit status of a command, function, or the script itself (see Example 23-3)
$$

process id of the script itself, often used in scripts to construct "unique" temp file names (see Example A-13, Example 30-6,
Example 12-23, and Example 11-20)

Notes

[1] The pid of the currently running script is $$, of course.

[2] The words "argument" and "parameter" are often used interchangeably. In the context of this document, they have the
same precise meaning, that of a variable passed to a script or function.

Prev Home Next

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Internal Variables

Variables Revisited Up Manipulating Strings

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Special Characters

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 4. Special Characters

Special Characters Found In Scripts and Elsewhere

Comments. Lines beginning with a # (with the exception of #!) are comments.

# This line is a comment.

Comments may also occur at the end of a command.

echo "A comment will follow." # Comment here.

Comments may also follow whitespace at the beginning of a line.

# A tab precedes this comment.

A command may not follow a comment on the same line. There is no method of terminating the comment,
in order for "live code" to begin on the same line. Use a new line for the next command.

Of course, an escaped # in an echo statement does not begin a comment. Likewise, a # appears in certain
parameter substitution constructs and in numerical constant expressions.

echo "The # here does not begin a comment."

echo 'The # here does not begin a comment.'
echo The \# here does not begin a comment.
echo The # here begins a comment.

echo ${PATH#*:} # Parameter substitution, not a comment.

echo $(( 2#101011 )) # Base conversion, not a comment.

# Thanks, S.C.

The standard quoting and escape characters (" ' \) escape the #.

Certain pattern matching operations also use the #.

Command separator. [Semicolon] Permits putting two or more commands on the same line.

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Special Characters

echo hello; echo there

Note that the ";" sometimes needs to be escaped.

;;

Terminator in a case option. [Double semicolon]

case "$variable" in
abc) echo "$variable = abc" ;;
xyz) echo "$variable = xyz" ;;
esac

"dot" command. [period] Equivalent to source (see Example 11-16). This is a bash builtin.

"dot", as a component of a filename. When working with filenames, a dot is the prefix of a "hidden" file, a file that an ls will
not normally show.

bash$ touch .hidden-file

bash$ ls -l
total 10
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo 4034 Jul 18 22:04 data1.addressbook
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo 4602 May 25 13:58 data1.addressbook.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo 877 Dec 17 2000 employment.addressbook

bash$ ls -al
total 14
drwxrwxr-x 2 bozo bozo 1024 Aug 29 20:54 ./
drwx------ 52 bozo bozo 3072 Aug 29 20:51 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4034 Jul 18 22:04 data1.addressbook
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 4602 May 25 13:58 data1.addressbook.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 bozo bozo 877 Dec 17 2000 employment.addressbook
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 29 20:54 .hidden-file

When considering directory names, a single dot represents the current working directory, and two dots denote the parent
directory.

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Special Characters

bash$ pwd
/home/bozo/projects

bash$ cd .
bash$ pwd
/home/bozo/projects

bash$ cd ..
bash$ pwd
/home/bozo/

The dot often appears as the destination (directory) of a file movement command.

bash$ cp /home/bozo/current_work/junk/* .

"dot" character match. When matching characters, as part of a regular expression, a "dot" matches a single character.

"

partial quoting. [double quote] "STRING" preserves (from interpretation) most of the special characters within STRING. See
also Chapter 6.

'

full quoting. [single quote] 'STRING' preserves all special characters within STRING. This is a stronger form of quoting than
using ". See also Chapter 6.

comma operator. The comma operator links together a series of arithmetic operations. All are evaluated, but only the last one
is returned.

let "t2 = ((a = 9, 15 / 3))" # Set "a" and calculate "t2".

escape. [backslash] \X "escapes" the character X. This has the effect of "quoting" X, equivalent to 'X'. The \ may be used to
quote " and ', so they are expressed literally.

See Chapter 6 for an in-depth explanation of escaped characters.

Filename path separator. [forward slash] Separates the components of a filename (as in

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Special Characters

/home/bozo/projects/Makefile).

This is also the division arithmetic operator.

command substitution. [backticks] `command` makes available the output of command for setting a variable. This is also
known as backticks or backquotes.

null command. [colon] This is the shell equivalent of a "NOP" (no op, a do-nothing operation). It may be considered a
synonym for the shell builtin true. The ":" command is a itself a Bash builtin, and its exit status is "true" (0).

:
echo $? # 0

Endless loop:

while :
do
operation-1
operation-2
...
operation-n
done

# Same as:
# while true
# do
# ...
# done

Placeholder in if/then test:

if condition
then : # Do nothing and branch ahead
else
take-some-action
fi

Provide a placeholder where a binary operation is expected, see Example 8-2 and default parameters.

: ${username=`whoami`}
# ${username=`whoami`} without the leading : gives an error
# unless "username" is a command or builtin...

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Provide a placeholder where a command is expected in a here document. See Example 17-9.

Evaluate string of variables using parameter substitution (as in Example 9-12).

: ${HOSTNAME?} ${USER?} ${MAIL?}

#Prints error message if one or more of essential environmental variables not set.

Variable expansion / substring replacement.

In combination with the > redirection operator, truncates a file to zero length, without changing its permissions. If the file did
not previously exist, creates it.

: > data.xxx # File "data.xxx" now empty.

# Same effect as cat /dev/null >data.xxx

# However, this does not fork a new process, since ":" is a builtin.

See also Example 12-11.

In combination with the >> redirection operator, updates a file access/modification time (: >> new_file). If the file did not
previously exist, creates it. This is equivalent to touch.

This applies to regular files, not pipes, symlinks, and certain special files.

May be used to begin a comment line, although this is not recommended. Using # for a comment turns off error checking for the
remainder of that line, so almost anything may be appear in a comment. However, this is not the case with :.

: This is a comment that generates an error, ( if [ $x -eq 3] ).

The ":" also serves as a field separator, in /etc/passwd, and in the $PATH variable.

bash$ echo $PATH

/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/games

reverse (or negate) the sense of a test or exit status. The ! operator inverts the exit status of the command to which it is
applied (see Example 3-2). It also inverts the meaning of a test operator. This can, for example, change the sense of "equal" ( = )
to "not-equal" ( != ). The ! operator is a Bash keyword.

In a different context, the ! also appears in indirect variable references.

In yet another context, from the command line, the ! invokes the Bash history mechanism (see Appendix F). Note that within a
script, the history mechanism is disabled.

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Special Characters

wild card. [asterisk] The * character serves as a "wild card" for filename expansion in globbing, as well as representing any
number (or zero) characters in a regular expression.

arithmetic operator. In the context of arithmetic operations, the * denotes multiplication.

A double asterisk, **, is the exponentiation operator.

test operator. Within certain expressions, the ? indicates a test for a condition.

In a double parentheses construct, the ? serves as a C-style trinary operator. See Example 9-25.

In a parameter substitution expression, the ? tests whether a variable has been set.

wild card. The ? character serves as a single-character "wild card" for filename expansion in globbing, as well as representing
one character in an extended regular expression.

Variable substitution.

var1=5
var2=23skidoo

echo $var1 # 5
echo $var2 # 23skidoo

A $ prefixing a variable name indicates the value the variable holds.

end-of-line. In a regular expression, a "$" addresses the end of a line of text.

${}

Parameter substitution.

$*, $@

positional parameters.

$?

exit status variable. The $? variable holds the exit status of a command, a function, or of the script itself.

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Special Characters

$$

process id variable. The $$ variable holds the process id of the script in which it appears.

()

command group.

(a=hello; echo $a)

A listing of commands within parentheses starts a subshell.

Variables inside parentheses, within the subshell, are not visible to the rest of the script. The parent process,
the script, cannot read variables created in the child process, the subshell.

a=123
( a=321; )

echo "a = $a" # a = 123

# "a" within parentheses acts like a local variable.

array initialization.

Array=(element1 element2 element3)

{xxx,yyy,zzz,...}

Brace expansion.

grep Linux file*.{txt,htm*}

# Finds all instances of the word "Linux"
# in the files "fileA.txt", "file2.txt", "fileR.html", "file-87.htm", etc.

A command may act upon a comma-separated list of file specs within braces. [1] Filename expansion (globbing) applies to
the file specs between the braces.

No spaces allowed within the braces unless the spaces are quoted or escaped.

echo {file1,file2}\ :{\ A," B",' C'}

file1 : A file1 : B file1 : C file2 : A file2 : B file2 : C

{}

Block of code. [curly brackets] Also referred to as an "inline group", this construct, in effect, creates an anonymous function.

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However, unlike a function, the variables in a code block remain visible to the remainder of the script.

bash$ { local a; a=123; }

bash: local: can only be used in a function

a=123
{ a=321; }
echo "a = $a" # a = 321 (value inside code block)

# Thanks, S.C.

The code block enclosed in braces may have I/O redirected to and from it.

Example 4-1. Code blocks and I/O redirection

#!/bin/bash
# Reading lines in /etc/fstab.

File=/etc/fstab

{
read line1
read line2
} < $File

echo "First line in $File is:"

echo "$line1"
echo
echo "Second line in $File is:"
echo "$line2"

exit 0

Example 4-2. Saving the results of a code block to a file

#!/bin/bash
# rpm-check.sh

# Queries an rpm file for description, listing, and whether it can be installed.
# Saves output to a file.
#
# This script illustrates using a code block.

SUCCESS=0
E_NOARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` rpm-file"
exit $E_NOARGS

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fi

{
echo
echo "Archive Description:"
rpm -qpi $1 # Query description.
echo
echo "Archive Listing:"
rpm -qpl $1 # Query listing.
echo
rpm -i --test $1 # Query whether rpm file can be installed.
if [ "$?" -eq $SUCCESS ]
then
echo "$1 can be installed."
else
echo "$1 cannot be installed."
fi
echo
} > "$1.test" # Redirects output of everything in block to file.

echo "Results of rpm test in file $1.test"

# See rpm man page for explanation of options.

exit 0

Unlike a command group within (parentheses), as above, a code block enclosed by {braces} will not
normally launch a subshell. [2]
{} \;

pathname. Mostly used in find constructs. This is not a shell builtin.

The ";" ends the -exec option of a find command sequence. It needs to be escaped to protect it from
interpretation by the shell.
[]

test.

Test expression between [ ]. Note that [ is part of the shell builtin test (and a synonym for it), not a link to the external
command /usr/bin/test.

[[ ]]

test.

Test expression between [[ ]] (shell keyword).

See the discussion on the [[ ... ]] construct.

[]

array element.

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In the context of an array, brackets set off the numbering of each element of that array.

Array[1]=slot_1
echo ${Array[1]}

[]

range of characters.

As part of a regular expression, brackets delineate a range of characters to match.

(( ))

integer expansion.

Expand and evaluate integer expression between (( )).

See the discussion on the (( ... )) construct.

> &> >& >> <

redirection.

scriptname >filename redirects the output of scriptname to file filename. Overwrite filename if it already
exists.

command &>filename redirects both the stdout and the stderr of command to filename.

command >&2 redirects stdout of command to stderr.

scriptname >>filename appends the output of scriptname to file filename. If filename does not already exist,
it will be created.

process substitution.

(command)>

<(command)

In a different context, the "<" and ">" characters act as string comparison operators.

In yet another context, the "<" and ">" characters act as integer comparison operators. See also Example 12-6.

<<

redirection used in a here document.

<, >

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Special Characters

ASCII comparison.

veg1=carrots
veg2=tomatoes

if [[ "$veg1" < "$veg2" ]]

then
echo "Although $veg1 precede $veg2 in the dictionary,"
echo "this implies nothing about my culinary preferences."
else
echo "What kind of dictionary are you using, anyhow?"
fi

\<, \>

word boundary in a regular expression.

bash$ grep '\<the\>' textfile

pipe. Passes the output of previous command to the input of the next one, or to the shell. This is a method of chaining
commands together.

echo ls -l | sh
# Passes the output of "echo ls -l" to the shell,
#+ with the same result as a simple "ls -l".

cat *.lst | sort | uniq

# Merges and sorts all ".lst" files, then deletes duplicate lines.

A pipe, as a classic method of interprocess communication, sends the stdout of one process to the stdin of another. In a
typical case, a command, such as cat or echo, pipes a stream of data to a "filter" (a command that transforms its input) for
processing.

cat $filename | grep $search_word

The output of a command or commands may be piped to a script.

#!/bin/bash
# uppercase.sh : Changes input to uppercase.

tr 'a-z' 'A-Z'
# Letter ranges must be quoted
#+ to prevent filename generation from single-letter filenames.

exit 0

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Now, let us pipe the output of ls -lto this script.

bash$ ls -l | ./uppercase.sh
-RW-RW-R-- 1 BOZO BOZO 109 APR 7 19:49 1.TXT
-RW-RW-R-- 1 BOZO BOZO 109 APR 14 16:48 2.TXT
-RW-R--R-- 1 BOZO BOZO 725 APR 20 20:56 DATA-FILE

The stdout of each process in a pipe must be read as the stdin of the next. If this is not the case, the
data stream will block, and the pipe will not behave as expected.

cat file1 file2 | ls -l | sort

# The output from "cat file1 file2" disappears.

A pipe runs as a child process, and therefore cannot alter script variables.

variable="initial_value"
echo "new_value" | read variable
echo "variable = $variable" # variable = initial_value

If one of the commands in the pipe aborts, this prematurely terminates execution of the pipe. Called a
broken pipe, this condition sends a SIGPIPE signal.
>|

force redirection (even if the noclobber option is set). This will forcibly overwrite an existing file.

||

OR logical operator. In a test construct, the || operator causes a return of 0 (success) if either of the linked test conditions is
true.

&

Run job in background. A command followed by an & will run in the background.

bash$ sleep 10 &

[1] 850
[1]+ Done sleep 10

Within a script, commands and even loops may run in the background.

Example 4-3. Running a loop in the background

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#!/bin/bash
# background-loop.sh

for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # First loop.

do
echo -n "$i "
done & # Run this loop in background.
# Will sometimes execute after second loop.

echo # This 'echo' sometimes will not display.

for i in 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 # Second loop.

do
echo -n "$i "
done

echo # This 'echo' sometimes will not display.

# ======================================================

# The expected output from the script:

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

# Sometimes, though, you get:

# 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 bozo $
# (The second 'echo' doesn't execute. Why?)

# Occasionally also:
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
# (The first 'echo' doesn't execute. Why?)

# Very rarely something like:

# 11 12 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
# The foreground loop preempts the background one.

exit 0

A command run in the background within a script may cause the script to hang, waiting for a keystroke.
Fortunately, there is a remedy for this.
&&

AND logical operator. In a test construct, the && operator causes a return of 0 (success) only if both the linked test conditions
are true.

option, prefix. Option flag for a command or filter. Prefix for an operator.

COMMAND -[Option1][Option2][...]

ls -al

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sort -dfu $filename

set -- $variable

if [ $file1 -ot $file2 ]

then
echo "File $file1 is older than $file2."
fi

if [ "$a" -eq "$b" ]

then
echo "$a is equal to $b."
fi

if [ "$c" -eq 24 -a "$d" -eq 47 ]

then
echo "$c equals 24 and $d equals 47."
fi

redirection from/to stdin or stdout. [dash]

(cd /source/directory && tar cf - . ) | (cd /dest/directory && tar xpvf -)

# Move entire file tree from one directory to another
# [courtesy Alan Cox <[email protected]>, with a minor change]

# 1) cd /source/directory Source directory, where the files to be moved are.

# 2) && "And-list": if the 'cd' operation successful, then
execute the next command.
# 3) tar cf - . The 'c' option 'tar' archiving command creates a new
archive,
# the 'f' (file) option, followed by '-' designates the
target file as stdout,
# and do it in current directory tree ('.').
# 4) | Piped to...
# 5) ( ... ) a subshell
# 6) cd /dest/directory Change to the destination directory.
# 7) && "And-list", as above
# 8) tar xpvf - Unarchive ('x'), preserve ownership and file permissions
('p'),
# and send verbose messages to stdout ('v'),
# reading data from stdin ('f' followed by '-').
#
# Note that 'x' is a command, and 'p', 'v', 'f' are
options.
# Whew!

# More elegant than, but equivalent to:

# cd source-directory
# tar cf - . | (cd ../target-directory; tar xzf -)
#

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# cp -a /source/directory /dest also has same effect.

bunzip2 linux-2.4.3.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -

# --uncompress tar file-- | --then pass it to "tar"--
# If "tar" has not been patched to handle "bunzip2",
# this needs to be done in two discrete steps, using a pipe.
# The purpose of the exercise is to unarchive "bzipped" kernel source.

Note that in this context the "-" is not itself a Bash operator, but rather an option recognized by certain UNIX utilities that write
to stdout, such as tar, cat, etc.

bash$ echo "whatever" | cat -

whatever

Where a filename is expected, - redirects output to stdout (sometimes seen with tar cf), or accepts input from stdin,
rather than from a file. This is a method of using a file-oriented utility as a filter in a pipe.

bash$ file
Usage: file [-bciknvzL] [-f namefile] [-m magicfiles] file...

By itself on the command line, filefails with an error message.

Add a "-" for a more useful result. This causes the shell to await user input.

bash$ file -
abc
standard input: ASCII text

bash$ file -
#!/bin/bash
standard input: Bourne-Again shell script text executable

Now the command accepts input from stdinand analyzes it.

The "-" can be used to pipe stdout to other commands. This permits such stunts as prepending lines to a file.

Using diff to compare a file with a section of another:

grep Linux file1 | diff file2 -

Finally, a real-world example using - with tar.

Example 4-4. Backup of all files changed in last day

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#!/bin/bash

# Backs up all files in current directory modified within last 24 hours

#+ in a "tarball" (tarred and gzipped file).

NOARGS=0
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# = $NOARGS ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

tar cvf - `find . -mtime -1 -type f -print` > $1.tar

gzip $1.tar

# Stephane Chazelas points out that the above code will fail
#+ if there are too many files found
#+ or if any filenames contain blank characters.

# He suggests the following alternatives:

# -------------------------------------------------------------
# find . -mtime -1 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 tar rvf "$1.tar"
# using the GNU version of "find".

# find . -mtime -1 -type f -exec tar rvf "$1.tar" '{}' \;

# portable to other UNIX flavors, but much slower.
# -------------------------------------------------------------

exit 0

Filenames beginning with "-" may cause problems when coupled with the "-" redirection operator. A script
should check for this and add an appropriate prefix to such filenames, for example ./-FILENAME,
$PWD/-FILENAME, or $PATHNAME/-FILENAME.

If the value of a variable begins with a -, this may likewise create problems.

var="-n"
echo $var
# Has the effect of "echo -n", and outputs nothing.

previous working directory. [dash] cd - changes to the previous working directory. This uses the $OLDPWD environmental
variable.

Do not confuse the "-" used in this sense with the "-" redirection operator just discussed. The interpretation
of the "-" depends on the context in which it appears.

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Minus. Minus sign in an arithmetic operation.

Equals. Assignment operator

a=28
echo $a # 28

In a different context, the "=" is a string comparison operator.

Plus. Addition arithmetic operator.

In a different context, the + is a Regular Expression operator.

Option. Option flag for a command or filter.

Certain commands and builtins use the + to enable certain options and the - to disable them.

modulo. Modulo (remainder of a division) arithmetic operation.

In a different context, the % is a pattern matching operator.

home directory. [tilde] This corresponds to the $HOME internal variable. ~bozo is bozo's home directory, and ls ~bozo lists
the contents of it. ~/ is the current user's home directory, and ls ~/ lists the contents of it.

bash$ echo ~bozo

/home/bozo

bash$ echo ~
/home/bozo

bash$ echo ~/
/home/bozo/

bash$ echo ~:
/home/bozo:

bash$ echo ~nonexistent-user

~nonexistent-user

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~+

current working directory. This corresponds to the $PWD internal variable.

~-

previous working directory. This corresponds to the $OLDPWD internal variable.

beginning-of-line. In a regular expression, a "^" addresses the beginning of a line of text.

Control Characters

change the behavior of the terminal or text display. A control character is a CONTROL + key combination.

❍ Ctl-C

Terminate a foreground job.

❍

Ctl-D

Log out from a shell (similar to exit).

"EOF" (end of file). This also terminates input from stdin.

❍ Ctl-G

"BEL" (beep).
❍ Ctl-H

Backspace.

#!/bin/bash
# Embedding Ctl-H in a string.

a="^H^H" # Two Ctl-H's (backspaces).

echo "abcdef" # abcdef
echo -n "abcdef$a " # abcd f
# Space at end ^ ^ Backspaces twice.
echo -n "abcdef$a" # abcdef
# No space at end Doesn't backspace (why?).
# Results may not be quite as expected.
echo; echo

❍ Ctl-J

Carriage return.
❍ Ctl-L

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Formfeed (clear the terminal screen). This has the same effect as the clear command.
❍ Ctl-M

Newline.
❍ Ctl-U

Erase a line of input.

❍ Ctl-Z

Pause a foreground job.

Whitespace

functions as a separator, separating commands or variables. Whitespace consists of either spaces, tabs, blank lines, or any
combination thereof. In some contexts, such as variable assignment, whitespace is not permitted, and results in a syntax error.

Blank lines have no effect on the action of a script, and are therefore useful for visually separating functional sections.

$IFS, the special variable separating fields of input to certain commands, defaults to whitespace.

Notes

[1] The shell does the brace expansion. The command itself acts upon the result of the expansion.
[2] Exception: a code block in braces as part of a pipe may be run as a subshell.

ls | { read firstline; read secondline; }

# Error. The code block in braces runs as a subshell,
# so the output of "ls" cannot be passed to variables within the block.
echo "First line is $firstline; second line is $secondline" # Will not work.

# Thanks, S.C.

Prev Home Next

Exit and Exit Status Up Introduction to Variables and Parameters

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Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 26. Arrays

Newer versions of Bash support one-dimensional arrays. Array elements may be initialized with the variable[xx]
notation. Alternatively, a script may introduce the entire array by an explicit declare -a variable statement. To
dereference (find the contents of) an array element, use curly bracket notation, that is, ${variable[xx]}.

Example 26-1. Simple array usage

#!/bin/bash

area[11]=23
area[13]=37
area[51]=UFOs

# Array members need not be consecutive or contiguous.

# Some members of the array can be left uninitialized.

# Gaps in the array are o.k.

echo -n "area[11] = "

echo ${area[11]} # {curly brackets} needed

echo -n "area[13] = "

echo ${area[13]}

echo "Contents of area[51] are ${area[51]}."

# Contents of uninitialized array variable print blank.

echo -n "area[43] = "
echo ${area[43]}
echo "(area[43] unassigned)"

echo

# Sum of two array variables assigned to third

area[5]=`expr ${area[11]} + ${area[13]}`
echo "area[5] = area[11] + area[13]"
echo -n "area[5] = "
echo ${area[5]}

area[6]=`expr ${area[11]} + ${area[51]}`

echo "area[6] = area[11] + area[51]"
echo -n "area[6] = "
echo ${area[6]}
# This fails because adding an integer to a string is not permitted.

echo; echo; echo

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# -----------------------------------------------------------------
# Another array, "area2".
# Another way of assigning array variables...
# array_name=( XXX YYY ZZZ ... )

area2=( zero one two three four )

echo -n "area2[0] = "

echo ${area2[0]}
# Aha, zero-based indexing (first element of array is [0], not [1]).

echo -n "area2[1] = "

echo ${area2[1]} # [1] is second element of array.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------

echo; echo; echo

# -----------------------------------------------
# Yet another array, "area3".
# Yet another way of assigning array variables...
# array_name=([xx]=XXX [yy]=YYY ...)

area3=([17]=seventeen [24]=twenty-four)

echo -n "area3[17] = "

echo ${area3[17]}

echo -n "area3[24] = "

echo ${area3[24]}
# -----------------------------------------------

exit 0

Array variables have a syntax all their own, and even standard Bash commands and operators have special options adapted
for array use.

array=( zero one two three four five )

echo ${array[0]} # zero

echo ${array:0} # zero
# Parameter expansion of first element.
echo ${array:1} # ero
# Parameter expansion of first element,
#+ starting at position #1 (2nd character).

echo ${#array} # 4
# Length of first element of array.

In an array context, some Bash builtins have a slightly altered meaning. For example, unset deletes array elements, or even
an entire array.

Example 26-2. Some special properties of arrays

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#!/bin/bash

declare -a colors
# Permits declaring an array without specifying its size.

echo "Enter your favorite colors (separated from each other by a space)."

read -a colors # Enter at least 3 colors to demonstrate features below.

# Special option to 'read' command,
#+ allowing assignment of elements in an array.

echo

element_count=${#colors[@]}
# Special syntax to extract number of elements in array.
# element_count=${#colors[*]} works also.
#
# The "@" variable allows word splitting within quotes
#+ (extracts variables separated by whitespace).

index=0

while [ "$index" -lt "$element_count" ]

do # List all the elements in the array.
echo ${colors[$index]}
let "index = $index + 1"
done
# Each array element listed on a separate line.
# If this is not desired, use echo -n "${colors[$index]} "
#
# Doing it with a "for" loop instead:
# for i in "${colors[@]}"
# do
# echo "$i"
# done
# (Thanks, S.C.)

echo

# Again, list all the elements in the array, but using a more elegant method.
echo ${colors[@]} # echo ${colors[*]} also works.

echo

# The "unset" command deletes elements of an array, or entire array.

unset colors[1] # Remove 2nd element of array.
# Same effect as colors[1]=
echo ${colors[@]} # List array again, missing 2nd element.

unset colors # Delete entire array.

# unset colors[*] and
#+ unset colors[@] also work.
echo; echo -n "Colors gone."
echo ${colors[@]} # List array again, now empty.

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exit 0

As seen in the previous example, either ${array_name[@]} or ${array_name[*]} refers to all the elements of the array.
Similarly, to get a count of the number of elements in an array, use either ${#array_name[@]} or ${#array_name[*]}.
${#array_name} is the length (number of characters) of ${array_name[0]}, the first element of the array.

Example 26-3. Of empty arrays and empty elements

#!/bin/bash
# empty-array.sh

# An empty array is not the same as an array with empty elements.

array0=( first second third )

array1=( '' ) # "array1" has one empty element.
array2=( ) # No elements... "array2" is empty.

echo

echo "Elements in array0: ${array0[@]}"

echo "Elements in array1: ${array1[@]}"
echo "Elements in array2: ${array2[@]}"
echo
echo "Length of first element in array0 = ${#array0}"
echo "Length of first element in array1 = ${#array1}"
echo "Length of first element in array2 = ${#array2}"
echo
echo "Number of elements in array0 = ${#array0[*]}" # 3
echo "Number of elements in array1 = ${#array1[*]}" # 1 (surprise!)
echo "Number of elements in array2 = ${#array2[*]}" # 0

echo

exit 0 # Thanks, S.C.

The relationship of ${array_name[@]} and ${array_name[*]} is analogous to that between $@ and $*. This powerful
array notation has a number of uses.

# Copying an array.
array2=( "${array1[@]}" )
# or
array2="${array1[@]}"

# Adding an element to an array.

array=( "${array[@]}" "new element" )
# or
array[${#array[*]}]="new element"

# Thanks, S.C.

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The array=( element1 element2 ... elementN ) initialization operation, with the help of command substitution,
makes it possible to load the contents of a text file into an array.

#!/bin/bash

filename=sample_file

# cat sample_file
#
# 1 a b c
# 2 d e fg

declare -a array1

array1=( `cat "$filename" | tr '\n' ' '`) # Loads contents

# of $filename into array1.
# list file to stdout.
# change linefeeds in file to spaces.

echo ${array1[@]} # List the array.

# 1 a b c 2 d e fg
#
# Each whitespace-separated "word" in the file
#+ has been assigned to an element of the array.

element_count=${#array1[*]}
echo $element_count # 8

Arrays permit deploying old familiar algorithms as shell scripts. Whether this is necessarily a good idea is left to the reader
to decide.

Example 26-4. An old friend: The Bubble Sort

#!/bin/bash
# bubble.sh: Bubble sort, of sorts.

# Recall the algorithm for a bubble sort. In this particular version...

# With each successive pass through the array to be sorted,

#+ compare two adjacent elements, and swap them if out of order.
# At the end of the first pass, the "heaviest" element has sunk to bottom.
# At the end of the second pass, the next "heaviest" one has sunk next to bottom.
# And so forth.
# This means that each successive pass needs to traverse less of the array.
# You will therefore notice a speeding up in the printing of the later passes.

exchange()
{
# Swaps two members of the array.

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local temp=${Countries[$1]} # Temporary storage

#+ for element getting swapped out.
Countries[$1]=${Countries[$2]}
Countries[$2]=$temp

return
}

declare -a Countries # Declare array,

#+ optional here since it's initialized below.

# Is it permissable to split an array variable over multiple lines

#+ using an escape (\)?
# Yes.

Countries=(Netherlands Ukraine Zaire Turkey Russia Yemen Syria \

Brazil Argentina Nicaragua Japan Mexico Venezuela Greece England \
Israel Peru Canada Oman Denmark Wales France Kenya \
Xanadu Qatar Liechtenstein Hungary)

# "Xanadu" is the mythical place where, according to Coleridge,

#+ Kubla Khan did a pleasure dome decree.

clear # Clear the screen to start with.

echo "0: ${Countries[*]}" # List entire array at pass 0.

number_of_elements=${#Countries[@]}
let "comparisons = $number_of_elements - 1"

count=1 # Pass number.

while [ "$comparisons" -gt 0 ] # Beginning of outer loop

do

index=0 # Reset index to start of array after each pass.

while [ "$index" -lt "$comparisons" ] # Beginning of inner loop

do
if [ ${Countries[$index]} \> ${Countries[`expr $index + 1`]} ]
# If out of order...
# Recalling that \> is ASCII comparison operator
#+ within single brackets.

# if [[ ${Countries[$index]} > ${Countries[`expr $index + 1`]} ]]

#+ also works.
then
exchange $index `expr $index + 1` # Swap.
fi
let "index += 1"
done # End of inner loop

let "comparisons -= 1" # Since "heaviest" element bubbles to bottom,

#+ we need do one less comparison each pass.

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echo
echo "$count: ${Countries[@]}" # Print resultant array at end of each pass.
echo
let "count += 1" # Increment pass count.

done # End of outer loop

# All done.

exit 0

--

Arrays enable implementing a shell script version of the Sieve of Eratosthenes. Of course, a resource-intensive application
of this nature should really be written in a compiled language, such as C. It runs excruciatingly slowly as a script.

Example 26-5. Complex array application: Sieve of Eratosthenes

#!/bin/bash
# sieve.sh

# Sieve of Eratosthenes
# Ancient algorithm for finding prime numbers.

# This runs a couple of orders of magnitude

# slower than the equivalent C program.

LOWER_LIMIT=1 # Starting with 1.

UPPER_LIMIT=1000 # Up to 1000.
# (You may set this higher... if you have time on your hands.)

PRIME=1
NON_PRIME=0

let SPLIT=UPPER_LIMIT/2
# Optimization:
# Need to test numbers only halfway to upper limit.

declare -a Primes
# Primes[] is an array.

initialize ()
{
# Initialize the array.

i=$LOWER_LIMIT
until [ "$i" -gt "$UPPER_LIMIT" ]
do
Primes[i]=$PRIME
let "i += 1"
done
# Assume all array members guilty (prime)

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# until proven innocent.

}

print_primes ()
{
# Print out the members of the Primes[] array tagged as prime.

i=$LOWER_LIMIT

until [ "$i" -gt "$UPPER_LIMIT" ]

do

if [ "${Primes[i]}" -eq "$PRIME" ]

then
printf "%8d" $i
# 8 spaces per number gives nice, even columns.
fi

let "i += 1"

done

sift () # Sift out the non-primes.

{

let i=$LOWER_LIMIT+1
# We know 1 is prime, so let's start with 2.

until [ "$i" -gt "$UPPER_LIMIT" ]

do

if [ "${Primes[i]}" -eq "$PRIME" ]

# Don't bother sieving numbers already sieved (tagged as non-prime).
then

t=$i

while [ "$t" -le "$UPPER_LIMIT" ]

do
let "t += $i "
Primes[t]=$NON_PRIME
# Tag as non-prime all multiples.
done

fi

let "i += 1"

done

# Invoke the functions sequentially.

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initialize
sift
print_primes
# This is what they call structured programming.

echo

exit 0

# ----------------------------------------------- #
# Code below line will not execute.

# This improved version of the Sieve, by Stephane Chazelas,

# executes somewhat faster.

# Must invoke with command-line argument (limit of primes).

UPPER_LIMIT=$1 # From command line.

let SPLIT=UPPER_LIMIT/2 # Halfway to max number.

Primes=( '' $(seq $UPPER_LIMIT) )

i=1
until (( ( i += 1 ) > SPLIT )) # Need check only halfway.
do
if [[ -n $Primes[i] ]]
then
t=$i
until (( ( t += i ) > UPPER_LIMIT ))
do
Primes[t]=
done
fi
done
echo ${Primes[*]}

exit 0

Compare this array-based prime number generator with an alternative that does not use arrays, Example A-16.

--

Arrays lend themselves, to some extent, to emulating data structures for which Bash has no native support.

Example 26-6. Emulating a push-down stack

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#!/bin/bash
# stack.sh: push-down stack simulation

# Similar to the CPU stack, a push-down stack stores data items

#+ sequentially, but releases them in reverse order, last-in first-out.

BP=100 # Base Pointer of stack array.

# Begin at element 100.

SP=$BP # Stack Pointer.

# Initialize it to "base" (bottom) of stack.

Data= # Contents of stack location.

# Must use local variable,
#+ because of limitation on function return range.

declare -a stack

push() # Push item on stack.

{
if [ -z "$1" ] # Nothing to push?
then
return
fi

let "SP -= 1" # Bump stack pointer.

stack[$SP]=$1

return
}

pop() # Pop item off stack.

{
Data= # Empty out data item.

if [ "$SP" -eq "$BP" ] # Stack empty?

then
return
fi # This also keeps SP from getting past 100,
#+ i.e., prevents a runaway stack.

Data=${stack[$SP]}
let "SP += 1" # Bump stack pointer.
return
}

status_report() # Find out what's happening.

{
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo "REPORT"
echo "Stack Pointer = $SP"
echo "Just popped \""$Data"\" off the stack."
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo

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# =======================================================
# Now, for some fun.

echo

# See if you can pop anything off empty stack.

pop
status_report

echo

push garbage
pop
status_report # Garbage in, garbage out.

value1=23; push $value1

value2=skidoo; push $value2
value3=FINAL; push $value3

pop # FINAL
status_report
pop # skidoo
status_report
pop # 23
status_report # Last-in, first-out!

# Notice how the stack pointer decrements with each push,

#+ and increments with each pop.

echo
# =======================================================

# Exercises:
# ---------

# 1) Modify the "push()" function to permit pushing

# + multiple element on the stack with a single function call.

# 2) Modify the "pop()" function to permit popping

# + multiple element from the stack with a single function call.

# 3) Using this script as a jumping-off point,

# + write a stack-based 4-function calculator.

exit 0

--

Fancy manipulation of array "subscripts" may require intermediate variables. For projects involving this, again consider
using a more powerful programming language, such as Perl or C.

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Arrays

Example 26-7. Complex array application: Exploring a weird mathematical series

#!/bin/bash

# Douglas Hofstadter's notorious "Q-series":

# Q(1) = Q(2) = 1
# Q(n) = Q(n - Q(n-1)) + Q(n - Q(n-2)), for n>2

# This is a "chaotic" integer series with strange and unpredictable behavior.

# The first 20 terms of the series are:
# 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 9 10 11 11 12

# See Hofstadter's book, "Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid",

# p. 137, ff.

LIMIT=100 # Number of terms to calculate

LINEWIDTH=20 # Number of terms printed per line

Q[1]=1 # First two terms of series are 1.

Q[2]=1

echo
echo "Q-series [$LIMIT terms]:"
echo -n "${Q[1]} " # Output first two terms.
echo -n "${Q[2]} "

for ((n=3; n <= $LIMIT; n++)) # C-like loop conditions.

do # Q[n] = Q[n - Q[n-1]] + Q[n - Q[n-2]] for n>2
# Need to break the expression into intermediate terms,
# since Bash doesn't handle complex array arithmetic very well.

let "n1 = $n - 1" # n-1

let "n2 = $n - 2" # n-2

t0=`expr $n - ${Q[n1]}` # n - Q[n-1]

t1=`expr $n - ${Q[n2]}` # n - Q[n-2]

T0=${Q[t0]} # Q[n - Q[n-1]]

T1=${Q[t1]} # Q[n - Q[n-2]]

Q[n]=`expr $T0 + $T1` # Q[n - Q[n-1]] + Q[n - ![n-2]]

echo -n "${Q[n]} "

if [ `expr $n % $LINEWIDTH` -eq 0 ] # Format output.

then # mod
echo # Break lines into neat chunks.
fi

done

echo

exit 0

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Arrays

# This is an iterative implementation of the Q-series.

# The more intuitive recursive implementation is left as an exercise.
# Warning: calculating this series recursively takes a *very* long time.

--

Bash supports only one-dimensional arrays, however a little trickery permits simulating multi-dimensional ones.

Example 26-8. Simulating a two-dimensional array, then tilting it

#!/bin/bash
# Simulating a two-dimensional array.

# A two-dimensional array stores rows sequentially.

Rows=5
Columns=5

declare -a alpha # char alpha [Rows] [Columns];

# Unnecessary declaration.

load_alpha ()
{
local rc=0
local index

for i in A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
do
local row=`expr $rc / $Columns`
local column=`expr $rc % $Rows`
let "index = $row * $Rows + $column"
alpha[$index]=$i # alpha[$row][$column]
let "rc += 1"
done

# Simpler would be
# declare -a alpha=( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y )
# but this somehow lacks the "flavor" of a two-dimensional array.
}

print_alpha ()
{
local row=0
local index

echo

while [ "$row" -lt "$Rows" ] # Print out in "row major" order -

do # columns vary
# while row (outer loop) remains the same.
local column=0

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Arrays

while [ "$column" -lt "$Columns" ]

do
let "index = $row * $Rows + $column"
echo -n "${alpha[index]} " # alpha[$row][$column]
let "column += 1"
done

let "row += 1"

echo

done

# The simpler equivalent is

# echo ${alpha[*]} | xargs -n $Columns

echo
}

filter () # Filter out negative array indices.

{

echo -n " " # Provides the tilt.

if [[ "$1" -ge 0 && "$1" -lt "$Rows" && "$2" -ge 0 && "$2" -lt "$Columns" ]]
then
let "index = $1 * $Rows + $2"
# Now, print it rotated.
echo -n " ${alpha[index]}" # alpha[$row][$column]
fi

rotate () # Rotate the array 45 degrees

{ # ("balance" it on its lower lefthand corner).
local row
local column

for (( row = Rows; row > -Rows; row-- )) # Step through the array backwards.
do

for (( column = 0; column < Columns; column++ ))

do

if [ "$row" -ge 0 ]
then
let "t1 = $column - $row"
let "t2 = $column"
else
let "t1 = $column"
let "t2 = $column + $row"
fi

filter $t1 $t2 # Filter out negative array indices.

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Arrays

done

echo; echo

done

# Array rotation inspired by examples (pp. 143-146) in

# "Advanced C Programming on the IBM PC", by Herbert Mayer
# (see bibliography).

#-----------------------------------------------------#
load_alpha # Load the array.
print_alpha # Print it out.
rotate # Rotate it 45 degrees counterclockwise.
#-----------------------------------------------------#

# This is a rather contrived, not to mention kludgy simulation.

#
# Exercises:
# ---------
# 1) Rewrite the array loading and printing functions
# + in a more intuitive and elegant fashion.
#
# 2) Figure out how the array rotation functions work.
# Hint: think about the implications of backwards-indexing an array.

exit 0

A two-dimensional array is essentially equivalent to a one-dimensional one, but with additional addressing modes for
referencing and manipulating the individual elements by "row" and "column" position.

For an even more elaborate example of simulating a two-dimensional array, see Example A-10.

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List Constructs Up Files

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I/O Redirection

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 16. I/O Redirection

Table of Contents
16.1. Using exec
16.2. Redirecting Code Blocks
16.3. Applications

There are always three default "files" open, stdin (the keyboard), stdout (the screen), and stderr (error messages output
to the screen). These, and any other open files, can be redirected. Redirection simply means capturing output from a file,
command, program, script, or even code block within a script (see Example 4-1 and Example 4-2) and sending it as input to
another file, command, program, or script.

Each open file gets assigned a file descriptor. [1] The file descriptors for stdin, stdout, and stderr are 0, 1, and 2,
respectively. For opening additional files, there remain descriptors 3 to 9. It is sometimes useful to assign one of these
additional file descriptors to stdin, stdout, or stderr as a temporary duplicate link. [2] This simplifies restoration to
normal after complex redirection and reshuffling (see Example 16-1).

COMMAND_OUTPUT >
# Redirect stdout to a file.
# Creates the file if not present, otherwise overwrites it.

ls -lR > dir-tree.list

# Creates a file containing a listing of the directory tree.

: > filename
# The > truncates file "filename" to zero length.
# If file not present, creates zero-length file (same effect as 'touch').
# The : serves as a dummy placeholder, producing no output.

> filename
# The > truncates file "filename" to zero length.
# If file not present, creates zero-length file (same effect as 'touch').
# (Same result as ": >", above, but this does not work with some shells.)

COMMAND_OUTPUT >>
# Redirect stdout to a file.
# Creates the file if not present, otherwise appends to it.

# Single-line redirection commands (affect only the line they are on):
# --------------------------------------------------------------------

1>filename
# Redirect stdout to file "filename".
1>>filename
# Redirect and append stdout to file "filename".
2>filename
# Redirect stderr to file "filename".
2>>filename
# Redirect and append stderr to file "filename".

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I/O Redirection

&>filename
# Redirect both stdout and stderr to file "filename".

#==============================================================================
# Redirecting stdout, one line at a time.
LOGFILE=script.log

echo "This statement is sent to the log file, \"$LOGFILE\"." 1>$LOGFILE

echo "This statement is appended to \"$LOGFILE\"." 1>>$LOGFILE
echo "This statement is also appended to \"$LOGFILE\"." 1>>$LOGFILE
echo "This statement is echoed to stdout, and will not appear in \"$LOGFILE\"."
# These redirection commands automatically "reset" after each line.

# Redirecting stderr, one line at a time.

ERRORFILE=script.errors

bad_command1 2>$ERRORFILE # Error message sent to $ERRORFILE.

bad_command2 2>>$ERRORFILE # Error message appended to $ERRORFILE.
bad_command3 # Error message echoed to stderr,
#+ and does not appear in $ERRORFILE.
# These redirection commands also automatically "reset" after each line.
#==============================================================================

2>&1
# Redirects stderr to stdout.
# Error messages get sent to same place as standard output.

i>&j
# Redirects file descriptor i to j.
# All output of file pointed to by i gets sent to file pointed to by j.

>&j
# Redirects, by default, file descriptor 1 (stdout) to j.
# All stdout gets sent to file pointed to by j.

0< FILENAME
< FILENAME
# Accept input from a file.
# Companion command to ">", and often used in combination with it.
#
# grep search-word <filename

[j]<>filename
# Open file "filename" for reading and writing, and assign file descriptor "j"
to it.
# If "filename" does not exist, create it.
# If file descriptor "j" is not specified, default to fd 0, stdin.
#
# An application of this is writing at a specified place in a file.
echo 1234567890 > File # Write string to "File".
exec 3<> File # Open "File" and assign fd 3 to it.
read -n 4 <&3 # Read only 4 characters.

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I/O Redirection

echo -n . >&3 # Write a decimal point there.

exec 3>&- # Close fd 3.
cat File # ==> 1234.67890
# Random access, by golly.

|
# Pipe.
# General purpose process and command chaining tool.
# Similar to ">", but more general in effect.
# Useful for chaining commands, scripts, files, and programs together.
cat *.txt | sort | uniq > result-file
# Sorts the output of all the .txt files and deletes duplicate lines,
# finally saves results to "result-file".

Multiple instances of input and output redirection and/or pipes can be combined in a single command line.

command < input-file > output-file

command1 | command2 | command3 > output-file

See Example 12-23 and Example A-15.

Multiple output streams may be redirected to one file.

ls -yz >> command.log 2>&1

# Capture result of illegal options "yz" to "ls" in file "command.log".
# Because stderr redirected to the file, any error messages will also be there.

Closing File Descriptors

n<&-

Close input file descriptor n.

0<&-, <&-

Close stdin.
n>&-

Close output file descriptor n.

1>&-, >&-

Close stdout.

Child processes inherit open file descriptors. This is why pipes work. To prevent an fd from being inherited, close it.

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I/O Redirection

# Redirecting only stderr to a pipe.

exec 3>&1 # Save current "value" of stdout.

ls -l 2>&1 >&3 3>&- | grep bad 3>&- # Close fd 3 for 'grep' (but not 'ls').
# ^^^^ ^^^^
exec 3>&- # Now close it for the remainder of the
script.

# Thanks, S.C.

For a more detailed introduction to I/O redirection see Appendix D.

Notes

[1] A file descriptor is simply a number that the operating system assigns to an open file to keep track of it. Consider it a
simplified version of a file pointer. It is analogous to a file handle in C.
[2] Using file descriptor 5 might cause problems. When Bash creates a child process, as with exec, the child
inherits fd 5 (see Chet Ramey's archived e-mail, SUBJECT: RE: File descriptor 5 is held open). Best leave this
particular fd alone.

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Arithmetic Expansion Up Using exec

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Gotchas

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 32. Gotchas

Turandot: Gli enigmi sono tre, la morte una!

Caleph: No, no! Gli enigmi sono tre, una la vita!

Puccini

Assigning reserved words or characters to variable names.

case=value0 # Causes problems.

23skidoo=value1 # Also problems.
# Variable names starting with a digit are reserved by the shell.
# Try _23skidoo=value1. Starting variables with an underscore is o.k.

# However... using just the underscore will not work.

_=25
echo $_ # $_ is a special variable set to last arg of last command.

xyz((!*=value2 # Causes severe problems.

Using a hyphen or other reserved characters in a variable name.

var-1=23
# Use 'var_1' instead.

Using the same name for a variable and a function. This can make a script difficult to understand.

do_something ()
{
echo "This function does something with \"$1\"."
}

do_something=do_something

do_something do_something

# All this is legal, but highly confusing.

Using whitespace inappropriately (in contrast to other programming languages, Bash can be quite finicky about
whitespace).

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Gotchas

var1 = 23 # 'var1=23' is correct.

# On line above, Bash attempts to execute command "var1"
# with the arguments "=" and "23".

let c = $a - $b # 'let c=$a-$b' or 'let "c = $a - $b"' are correct.

if [ $a -le 5] # if [ $a -le 5 ] is correct.

# if [ "$a" -le 5 ] is even better.
# [[ $a -le 5 ]] also works.

Assuming uninitialized variables (variables before a value is assigned to them) are "zeroed out". An uninitialized
variable has a value of "null", not zero.

Mixing up = and -eq in a test. Remember, = is for comparing literal variables and -eq for integers.

if [ "$a" = 273 ] # Is $a an integer or string?

if [ "$a" -eq 273 ] # If $a is an integer.

# Sometimes you can mix up -eq and = without adverse consequences.

# However...

a=273.0 # Not an integer.

if [ "$a" = 273 ]
then
echo "Comparison works."
else
echo "Comparison does not work."
fi # Comparison does not work.

# Same with a=" 273" and a="0273".

# Likewise, problems trying to use "-eq" with non-integer values.

if [ "$a" -eq 273.0 ]

then
echo "a = $a'
fi # Aborts with an error message.
# test.sh: [: 273.0: integer expression expected

Mixing up integer and string comparison operators.

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Gotchas

#!/bin/bash
# bad-op.sh

number=1

while [ "$number" < 5 ] # Wrong! Should be while [ "number" -lt 5 ]

do
echo -n "$number "
let "number += 1"
done

# Attempt to run this bombs with the error message:

# bad-op.sh: 5: No such file or directory

Sometimes variables within "test" brackets ([ ]) need to be quoted (double quotes). Failure to do so may cause
unexpected behavior. See Example 7-5, Example 16-4, and Example 9-6.

Commands issued from a script may fail to execute because the script owner lacks execute permission for them. If a
user cannot invoke a command from the command line, then putting it into a script will likewise fail. Try changing
the attributes of the command in question, perhaps even setting the suid bit (as root, of course).

Attempting to use - as a redirection operator (which it is not) will usually result in an unpleasant surprise.

command1 2> - | command2 # Trying to redirect error output of command1 into a

pipe...
# ...will not work.

command1 2>& - | command2 # Also futile.

Thanks, S.C.

Using Bash version 2+ functionality may cause a bailout with error messages. Older Linux machines may have
version 1.XX of Bash as the default installation.

#!/bin/bash

minimum_version=2
# Since Chet Ramey is constantly adding features to Bash,
# you may set $minimum_version to 2.XX, or whatever is appropriate.
E_BAD_VERSION=80

if [ "$BASH_VERSION" \< "$minimum_version" ]

then
echo "This script works only with Bash, version $minimum or greater."
echo "Upgrade strongly recommended."
exit $E_BAD_VERSION
fi

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Gotchas

...

Using Bash-specific functionality in a Bourne shell script (#!/bin/sh) on a non-Linux machine may cause
unexpected behavior. A Linux system usually aliases sh to bash, but this does not necessarily hold true for a generic
UNIX machine.

A script with DOS-type newlines (\r\n) will fail to execute, since #!/bin/bash\r\n is not recognized, not the
same as the expected #!/bin/bash\n. The fix is to convert the script to UNIX-style newlines.

A shell script headed by #!/bin/sh may not run in full Bash-compatibility mode. Some Bash-specific functions
might be disabled. Scripts that need complete access to all the Bash-specific extensions should start with
#!/bin/bash.

A script may not export variables back to its parent process, the shell, or to the environment. Just as we learned in
biology, a child process can inherit from a parent, but not vice versa.

WHATEVER=/home/bozo
export WHATEVER
exit 0

bash$ echo $WHATEVER

bash$

Sure enough, back at the command prompt, $WHATEVER remains unset.

Setting and manipulating variables in a subshell, then attempting to use those same variables outside the scope of the
subshell will result an unpleasant surprise.

Example 32-1. Subshell Pitfalls

#!/bin/bash
# Pitfalls of variables in a subshell.

outer_variable=outer
echo
echo "outer_variable = $outer_variable"
echo

(
# Begin subshell

echo "outer_variable inside subshell = $outer_variable"

inner_variable=inner # Set
echo "inner_variable inside subshell = $inner_variable"
outer_variable=inner # Will value change globally?
echo "outer_variable inside subshell = $outer_variable"

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Gotchas

# End subshell
)

echo
echo "inner_variable outside subshell = $inner_variable" # Unset.
echo "outer_variable outside subshell = $outer_variable" # Unchanged.
echo

exit 0

Piping echooutput to a read may produce unexpected results. In this scenario, the read acts as if it were running in a
subshell. Instead, use the set command (as in Example 11-12).

Example 32-2. Piping the output of echo to a read

#!/bin/bash
# badread.sh:
# Attempting to use 'echo and 'read'
#+ to assign variables non-interactively.

a=aaa
b=bbb
c=ccc

echo "one two three" | read a b c

# Try to reassign a, b, and c.

echo "a = $a" # a = aaa

echo "b = $b" # b = bbb
echo "c = $c" # c = ccc
# Reassignment failed.

# ------------------------------

# Try the following alternative.

var=`echo "one two three"`

set -- $var
a=$1; b=$2; c=$3

echo "-------"
echo "a = $a" # a = one
echo "b = $b" # b = two
echo "c = $c" # c = three
# Reassignment succeeded.

exit 0

Using "suid" commands within scripts is risky, as it may compromise system security. [1]

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Gotchas

Using shell scripts for CGI programming may be problematic. Shell script variables are not "typesafe", and this can
cause undesirable behavior as far as CGI is concerned. Moreover, it is difficult to "cracker-proof" shell scripts.

Bash scripts written for Linux or BSD systems may need fixups to run on a commercial UNIX machine. Such scripts
often employ GNU commands and filters which have greater functionality than their generic UNIX counterparts.
This is particularly true of such text processing utilites as tr.

Danger is near thee --

Beware, beware, beware, beware.

Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep.

So beware --

Beware.

A.J. Lamb and H.W. Petrie

Notes

[1] Setting the suid permission on the script itself has no effect.

Prev Home Next

Options Up Scripting With Style

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Options

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 31. Options

Options are settings that change shell and/or script behavior.

The set command enables options within a script. At the point in the script where you want
the options to take effect, use set -o option-name or, in short form, set -option-abbrev.
These two forms are equivalent.

#!/bin/bash

set -o verbose
# Echoes all commands before executing.

#!/bin/bash

set -v
# Exact same effect as above.

To disable an option within a script, use set +o option-name or set +option-

abbrev.

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Options

#!/bin/bash

set -o verbose
# Command echoing on.
command
...
command

set +o verbose
# Command echoing off.
command
# Not echoed.

set -v
# Command echoing on.
command
...
command

set +v
# Command echoing off.
command

exit 0

An alternate method of enabling options in a script is to specify them immediately following

the #! script header.

#!/bin/bash -x
#
# Body of script follows.

It is also possible to enable script options from the command line. Some options that will not
work with set are available this way. Among these are -i, force script to run interactive.

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Options

bash -v script-name

bash -o verbose script-name

The following is a listing of some useful options. They may be specified in either
abbreviated form or by complete name.

Table 31-1. bash options

Abbreviation Name Effect

-C noclobber Prevent overwriting of files by redirection (may be overridden
by >|)
-D (none) List double-quoted strings prefixed by $, but do not execute
commands in script
-a allexport Export all defined variables
-b notify Notify when jobs running in background terminate (not of
much use in a script)
-c ... (none) Read commands from ...
-f noglob Filename expansion (globbing) disabled
-i interactive Script runs in interactive mode
-p privileged Script runs as "suid" (caution!)
-r restricted Script runs in restricted mode (see Chapter 21).
-u nounset Attempt to use undefined variable outputs error message, and
forces an exit
-v verbose Print each command to stdout before executing it
-x xtrace Similar to -v, but expands commands
-e errexit Abort script at first error (when a command exits with non-zero
status)
-n noexec Read commands in script, but do not execute them (syntax
check)
-s stdin Read commands from stdin
-t (none) Exit after first command

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Options

- (none) End of options flag. All other arguments are positional

parameters.
-- (none) Unset positional parameters. If arguments given (-- arg1
arg2), positional parameters set to arguments.

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Debugging Up Gotchas

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Special Variable Types

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters Next

5.4. Special Variable Types

local variables

variables visible only within a code block or function (see also local variables in functions)
environmental variables

variables that affect the behavior of the shell and user interface

In a more general context, each process has an "environment", that is, a group of variables that hold
information that the process may reference. In this sense, the shell behaves like any other process.

Every time a shell starts, it creates shell variables that correspond to its own environmental
variables. Updating or adding new shell variables causes the shell to update its environment, and all
the shell's child processes (the commands it executes) inherit this environment.

The space allotted to the environment is limited. Creating too many environmental variables or ones
that use up excessive space may cause problems.

bash$ eval "`seq 10000 | sed -e 's/.*/export var&=ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ/'`"

bash$ du
bash: /usr/bin/du: Argument list too long

(Thank you, S. C. for the clarification, and for providing the above example.)

If a script sets environmental variables, they need to be "exported", that is, reported to the environment local to the
script. This is the function of the export command.

A script can export variables only to child processes, that is, only to commands or processes which
that particular script initiates. A script invoked from the command line cannot export variables
back to the command line environment. Child processes cannot export variables back to the parent
processes that spawned them.

---

positional parameters

arguments passed to the script from the command line - $0, $1, $2, $3... $0 is the name of the script itself, $1 is
the first argument, $2 the second, $3 the third, and so forth. [1] After $9, the arguments must be enclosed in
brackets, for example, ${10}, ${11}, ${12}.

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Special Variable Types

Example 5-5. Positional Parameters

#!/bin/bash

# Call this script with at least 10 parameters, for example

# ./scriptname 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

echo

echo "The name of this script is \"$0\"."

# Adds ./ for current directory
echo "The name of this script is \"`basename $0`\"."
# Strips out path name info (see 'basename')

echo

if [ -n "$1" ] # Tested variable is quoted.

then
echo "Parameter #1 is $1" # Need quotes to escape #
fi

if [ -n "$2" ]
then
echo "Parameter #2 is $2"
fi

if [ -n "$3" ]
then
echo "Parameter #3 is $3"
fi

# ...

if [ -n "${10}" ] # Parameters > $9 must be enclosed in {brackets}.

then
echo "Parameter #10 is ${10}"
fi

echo

exit 0

Some scripts can perform different operations, depending on which name they are invoked with. For this to work, the
script needs to check $0, the name it was invoked by. There must also exist symbolic links to all the alternate names of
the script.

If a script expects a command line parameter but is invoked without one, this may cause a null
variable assignment, generally an undesirable result. One way to prevent this is to append an extra
character to both sides of the assignment statement using the expected positional parameter.

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Special Variable Types

variable1_=$1_
# This will prevent an error, even if positional parameter is absent.

critical_argument01=$variable1_

# The extra character can be stripped off later, if desired, like so.
variable1=${variable1_/_/} # Side effects only if $variable1_ begins with "_".
# This uses one of the parameter substitution templates discussed in Chapter 9.
# Leaving out the replacement pattern results in a deletion.

# A more straightforward way of dealing with this is

#+ to simply test whether expected positional parameters have been passed.
if [ -z $1 ]
then
exit $POS_PARAMS_MISSING
fi

---

Example 5-6. wh, whois domain name lookup

#!/bin/bash

# Does a 'whois domain-name' lookup on any of 3 alternate servers:

# ripe.net, cw.net, radb.net

# Place this script, named 'wh' in /usr/local/bin

# Requires symbolic links:

# ln -s /usr/local/bin/wh /usr/local/bin/wh-ripe
# ln -s /usr/local/bin/wh /usr/local/bin/wh-cw
# ln -s /usr/local/bin/wh /usr/local/bin/wh-radb

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` [domain-name]"
exit 65
fi

case `basename $0` in

# Checks script name and calls proper server
"wh" ) whois [email protected];;
"wh-ripe") whois [email protected];;
"wh-radb") whois [email protected];;
"wh-cw" ) whois [email protected];;
* ) echo "Usage: `basename $0` [domain-name]";;
esac

exit 0

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Special Variable Types

---

The shift command reassigns the positional parameters, in effect shifting them to the left one notch.

$1 <--- $2, $2 <--- $3, $3 <--- $4, etc.

The old $1 disappears, but $0 (the script name) does not change. If you use a large number of positional parameters to
a script, shift lets you access those past 10, although {bracket} notation also permits this.

Example 5-7. Using shift

#!/bin/bash
# Using 'shift' to step through all the positional parameters.

# Name this script something like shft,

#+ and invoke it with some parameters, for example
# ./shft a b c def 23 skidoo

until [ -z "$1" ] # Until all parameters used up...

do
echo -n "$1 "
shift
done

echo # Extra line feed.

exit 0

The shift command also works on parameters passed to a function. See Example 34-6.

Notes

[1] The process calling the script sets the $0 parameter. By convention, this parameter is the name of the script. See
the manpage for execv.

Prev Home Next

Bash Variables Are Untyped Up Quoting

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Miscellaneous Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.9. Miscellaneous Commands

Command that fit in no special category

jot, seq

These utilities emit a sequence of integers, with a user-selected increment.

The normal separator character between each integer is a newline, but this can be changed with the -s option.

bash$ seq 5
1
2
3
4
5

bash$ seq -s : 5
1:2:3:4:5

Both jot and seq come in handy in a for loop.

Example 12-38. Using seq to generate loop arguments

#!/bin/bash

for a in `seq 80` # or for a in $( seq 80 )

# Same as for a in 1 2 3 4 5 ... 80 (saves much typing!).
# May also use 'jot' (if present on system).
do
echo -n "$a "
done
# Example of using the output of a command to generate
# the [list] in a "for" loop.

echo; echo

COUNT=80 # Yes, 'seq' may also take a replaceable parameter.

for a in `seq $COUNT` # or for a in $( seq $COUNT )

do
echo -n "$a "
done

echo

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Miscellaneous Commands

exit 0

getopt

The getopt command parses command-line options preceded by a dash. This external command corresponds to the getopts
Bash builtin, but it is not nearly as flexible.

Example 12-39. Using getopt to parse command-line options

#!/bin/bash

# Try the following when invoking this script.

# sh ex33a -a
# sh ex33a -abc
# sh ex33a -a -b -c
# sh ex33a -d
# sh ex33a -dXYZ
# sh ex33a -d XYZ
# sh ex33a -abcd
# sh ex33a -abcdZ
# sh ex33a -z
# sh ex33a a
# Explain the results of each of the above.

E_OPTERR=65

if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]
then # Script needs at least one command-line argument.
echo "Usage $0 -[options a,b,c]"
exit $E_OPTERR
fi

set -- `getopt "abcd:" "$@"`

# Sets positional parameters to command-line arguments.
# What happens if you use "$*" instead of "$@"?

while [ ! -z "$1" ]
do
case "$1" in
-a) echo "Option \"a\"";;
-b) echo "Option \"b\"";;
-c) echo "Option \"c\"";;
-d) echo "Option \"d\" $2";;
*) break;;
esac

shift
done

# It is better to use the 'getopts' builtin in a script,

#+ rather than 'getopt'.
# See "ex33.sh".

exit 0

run-parts

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Miscellaneous Commands

The run-parts command [1] executes all the scripts in a target directory, sequentially in ASCII-sorted filename order. Of
course, the scripts need to have execute permission.

The crond daemon invokes run-parts to run the scripts in the /etc/cron.* directories.
yes

In its default behavior the yes command feeds a continuous string of the character y followed by a line feed to stdout. A
control-c terminates the run. A different output string may be specified, as in yes different string, which would
continually output different string to stdout. One might well ask the purpose of this. From the command line or
in a script, the output of yes can be redirected or piped into a program expecting user input. In effect, this becomes a sort of
poor man's version of expect.

yes | fsck /dev/hda1 runs fsck non-interactively (careful!).

yes | rm -r dirname has same effect as rm -rf dirname (careful!).

Be very cautious when piping yes to a potentially dangerous system command, such as fsck or fdisk.
banner

Prints arguments as a large vertical banner to stdout, using an ASCII character (default '#'). This may be redirected to a
printer for hardcopy.
printenv

Show all the environmental variables set for a particular user.

bash$ printenv | grep HOME

HOME=/home/bozo

lp

The lp and lpr commands send file(s) to the print queue, to be printed as hard copy. [2] These commands trace the origin of
their names to the line printers of another era.

bash$ lp file1.txt or bash lp <file1.txt

It is often useful to pipe the formatted output from pr to lp.

bash$ pr -options file1.txt | lp

Formatting packages, such as groff and Ghostscript may send their output directly to lp.

bash$ groff -Tascii file.tr | lp

bash$ gs -options | lp file.ps

Related commands are lpq, for viewing the print queue, and lprm, for removing jobs from the print queue.
tee

[UNIX borrows an idea here from the plumbing trade.]

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Miscellaneous Commands

This is a redirection operator, but with a difference. Like the plumber's tee, it permits "siponing off" the output of a
command or commands within a pipe, but without affecting the result. This is useful for printing an ongoing process to a
file or paper, perhaps to keep track of it for debugging purposes.

tee
|------> to file
|
===============|===============
command--->----|-operator-->---> result of command(s)
===============================

cat listfile* | sort | tee check.file | uniq > result.file

(The file check.file contains the concatenated sorted "listfiles", before the duplicate lines are removed by uniq.)

mkfifo

This obscure command creates a named pipe, a temporary first-in-first-out buffer for transferring data between processes.
[3] Typically, one process writes to the FIFO, and the other reads from it. See Example A-15.
pathchk

This command checks the validity of a filename. If the filename exceeds the maximum allowable length (255 characters) or
one or more of the directories in its path is not searchable, then an error message results. Unfortunately, pathchk does not
return a recognizable error code, and it is therefore pretty much useless in a script.
dd

This is the somewhat obscure and much feared "data duplicator" command. Originally a utility for exchanging data on
magnetic tapes between UNIX minicomputers and IBM mainframes, this command still has its uses. The dd command
simply copies a file (or stdin/stdout), but with conversions. Possible conversions are ASCII/EBCDIC, [4]
upper/lower case, swapping of byte pairs between input and output, and skipping and/or truncating the head or tail of the
input file. A dd --help lists the conversion and other options that this powerful utility takes.

# Exercising 'dd'.

n=3
p=5
input_file=project.txt
output_file=log.txt

dd if=$input_file of=$output_file bs=1 skip=$((n-1)) count=$((p-n+1)) 2> /dev/null

# Extracts characters n to p from file $input_file.

echo -n "hello world" | dd cbs=1 conv=unblock 2> /dev/null

# Echoes "hello world" vertically.

# Thanks, S.C.

To demonstrate just how versatile dd is, let's use it to capture keystrokes.

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Miscellaneous Commands

Example 12-40. Capturing Keystrokes

#!/bin/bash
# Capture keystrokes without needing to press ENTER.

keypresses=4 # Number of keypresses to capture.

old_tty_setting=$(stty -g) # Save old terminal settings.

echo "Press $keypresses keys."

stty -icanon -echo # Disable canonical mode.
# Disable local echo.
keys=$(dd bs=1 count=$keypresses 2> /dev/null)
# 'dd' uses stdin, if "if" not specified.

stty "$old_tty_setting" # Restore old terminal settings.

echo "You pressed the \"$keys\" keys."

# Thanks, S.C. for showing the way.

exit 0

The dd command can do random access on a data stream.

echo -n . | dd bs=1 seek=4 of=file conv=notrunc

# The "conv=notrunc" option means that the output file will not be truncated.

# Thanks, S.C.

The dd command can copy raw data and disk images to and from devices, such as floppies and tape drives (Example A-6). A
common use is creating boot floppies.

dd if=kernel-image of=/dev/fd0H1440

Similarly, dd can copy the entire contents of a floppy, even one formatted with a "foreign" OS, to the hard drive as an image file.

dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/home/bozo/projects/floppy.img

Other applications of dd include initializing temporary swap files (Example 29-2) and ramdisks (Example 29-3). It can even do a
low-level copy of an entire hard drive partition, although this is not necessarily recommended.

People (with presumably nothing better to do with their time) are constantly thinking of interesting applications of dd.

Example 12-41. Securely deleting a file

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Miscellaneous Commands

#!/bin/bash
# blotout.sh: Erase all traces of a file.

# This script overwrites a target file alternately

#+ with random bytes, then zeros before finally deleting it.
# After that, even examining the raw disk sectors
#+ will not reveal the original file data.

PASSES=7 # Number of file-shredding passes.

BLOCKSIZE=1 # I/O with /dev/urandom requires unit block size,
#+ otherwise you get weird results.
E_BADARGS=70
E_NOT_FOUND=71
E_CHANGED_MIND=72

if [ -z "$1" ] # No filename specified.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

file=$1

if [ ! -e "$file" ]
then
echo "File \"$file\" not found."
exit $E_NOT_FOUND
fi

echo; echo -n "Are you absolutely sure you want to blot out \"$file\" (y/n)? "
read answer
case "$answer" in
[nN]) echo "Changed your mind, huh?"
exit $E_CHANGED_MIND
;;
*) echo "Blotting out file \"$file\".";;
esac

flength=$(ls -l "$file" | awk '{print $5}') # Field 5 is file length.

pass_count=1

echo

while [ "$pass_count" -le "$PASSES" ]

do
echo "Pass #$pass_count"
sync # Flush buffers.
dd if=/dev/urandom of=$file bs=$BLOCKSIZE count=$flength
# Fill with random bytes.
sync # Flush buffers again.
dd if=/dev/zero of=$file bs=$BLOCKSIZE count=$flength
# Fill with zeros.
sync # Flush buffers yet again.
let "pass_count += 1"
echo
done

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Miscellaneous Commands

rm -f $file # Finally, delete scrambled and shredded file.

sync # Flush buffers a final time.

echo "File \"$file\" blotted out and deleted."; echo

# This is a fairly secure, if inefficient and slow method

#+ of thoroughly "shredding" a file. The "shred" command,
#+ part of the GNU "fileutils" package, does the same thing,
#+ but more efficiently.

# The file cannot not be "undeleted" or retrieved by normal methods.

# However...
#+ this simple method will likely *not* withstand forensic analysis.

# Tom Vier's "wipe" file-deletion package does a much more thorough job
#+ of file shredding than this simple script.
# http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/utils/file/wipe-2.0.0.tar.bz2

# For an in-depth analysis on the topic of file deletion and security,

#+ see Peter Gutmann's paper,
#+ "Secure Deletion of Data From Magnetic and Solid-State Memory".
# http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/secure_del.html

exit 0

od

The od, or octal dump filter converts input (or files) to octal (base-8) or other bases. This is useful for viewing or
processing binary data files or otherwise unreadable system device files, such as /dev/urandom, and as a filter for
binary data. See Example 9-23 and Example 12-10.
hexdump

Performs a hexadecimal, octal, decimal, or ASCII dump of a binary file. This command is the rough equivalent of od,
above, but not nearly as useful.
mcookie

This command generates a "magic cookie", a 128-bit (32-character) pseudorandom hexadecimal number, normally used as
an authorization "signature" by the X server. This also available for use in a script as a "quick 'n dirty" random number.

random000=`mcookie | sed -e '2p'`

# Uses 'sed' to strip off extraneous characters.

Of course, a script could use md5 for the same purpose.

# Generate md5 checksum on the script itself.

random001=`md5sum $0 | awk '{print $1}'`
# Uses 'awk' to strip off the filename.

m4

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Miscellaneous Commands

A hidden treasure, m4 is a powerful macro processing filter, [5] virtually a complete language. Although originally written
as a pre-processor for RatFor, m4 turned out to be useful as a stand-alone utility. In fact, m4 combines some of the
functionality of eval, tr, and awk, in addition to its extensive macro expansion facilities.

The April, 2002 issue of Linux Journal has a very nice article on m4 and its uses.

Example 12-42. Using m4

#!/bin/bash
# m4.sh: Using the m4 macro processor

# Strings
string=abcdA01
echo "len($string)" | m4 # 7
echo "substr($string,4)" | m4 # A01
echo "regexp($string,[0-1][0-1],\&Z)" | m4 # 01Z

# Arithmetic
echo "incr(22)" | m4 # 23
echo "eval(99 / 3)" | m4 # 33

exit 0

Notes

[1] This is actually a script adapted from the Debian Linux distribution.
[2] The print queue is the group of jobs "waiting in line" to be printed.
[3] For an excellent overview of this topic, see Andy Vaught's article, Introduction to Named Pipes, in the September, 1997
issue of Linux Journal.
[4] EBCDIC (pronounced "ebb-sid-ic") is an acronym for Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. This is an IBM
data format no longer in much use. A bizarre application of the conv=ebcdic option of dd is as a quick 'n easy, but not
very secure text file encoder.

cat $file | dd conv=swab,ebcdic > $file_encrypted

# Encode (looks like gibberish).
# Might as well switch bytes (swab), too, for a little extra obscurity.

cat $file_encrypted | dd conv=swab,ascii > $file_plaintext

# Decode.

[5] A macro is a symbolic constant that expands into a command string or a set of operations on parameters.

Prev Home Next

Math Commands Up System and Administrative Commands

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Files

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 27. Files

startup files

These files contain the aliases and environmental variables made available to Bash
running as a user shell and to all Bash scripts invoked after system initialization.
/etc/profile

systemwide defaults, mostly setting the environment (all Bourne-type shells, not just
Bash [1])
/etc/bashrc

systemwide functions and aliases for Bash

$HOME/.bash_profile

user-specific Bash environmental default settings, found in each user's home

directory (the local counterpart to /etc/profile)
$HOME/.bashrc

user-specific Bash init file, found in each user's home directory (the local counterpart
to /etc/bashrc). Only interactive shells and user scripts read this file. See
Appendix G for a sample .bashrc file.

logout file

$HOME/.bash_logout

user-specific instruction file, found in each user's home directory. Upon exit from a
login (Bash) shell, the commands in this file execute.

Notes

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Files

[1] This does not apply to csh, tcsh, and other shells not related to or descended from the
classic Bourne shell (sh).

Prev Home Next

Arrays Up /dev and /proc

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Awk

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Appendix B. A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer Next

B.2. Awk
Awk is a full-featured text processing language with a syntax reminiscent of C. While it
possesses an extensive set of operators and capabilities, we will cover only a couple of these
here - the ones most useful for shell scripting.

Awk breaks each line of input passed to it into fields. By default, a field is a string of
consecutive characters separated by whitespace, though there are options for changing the
delimiter. Awk parses and operates on each separate field. This makes awk ideal for
handling structured text files, especially tables, data organized into consistent chunks, such
as rows and columns.

Strong quoting (single quotes) and curly brackets enclose segments of awk code within a
shell script.

awk '{print $3}' $filename

# Prints field #3 of file $filename to stdout.

awk '{print $1 $5 $6}' $filename

# Prints fields #1, #5, and #6 of file $filename.

We have just seen the awk print command in action. The only other feature of awk we need
to deal with here is variables. Awk handles variables similarly to shell scripts, though a bit
more flexibly.

{ total += ${column_number} }

This adds the value of column_number to the running total of "total". Finally, to print
"total", there is an END command block, executed after the script has processed all its input.
END { print total }

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Awk

Corresponding to the END, there is a BEGIN, for a code block to be performed before awk
starts processing its input.

For examples of awk within shell scripts, see:

1. Example 11-9
2. Example 16-7
3. Example 12-24
4. Example 34-3
5. Example 9-20
6. Example 11-14
7. Example 28-1
8. Example 28-2
9. Example 10-3
10. Example 12-41
11. Example 9-23
12. Example 12-3
13. Example 9-11
14. Example 34-7
15. Example 10-8

That's all the awk we'll cover here, folks, but there's lots more to learn. See the appropriate
references in the Bibliography.

Prev Home Next

Sed Up Exit Codes With Special
Meanings

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Typing variables: declare or typeset

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.4. Typing variables: declare or typeset

The declare or typeset builtins (they are exact synonyms) permit restricting the properties of variables. This is a very weak form of the
typing available in certain programming languages. The declare command is specific to version 2 or later of Bash. The typeset
command also works in ksh scripts.

declare/typeset options

-r readonly

declare -r var1

(declare -r var1 works the same as readonly var1)

This is the rough equivalent of the C const type qualifier. An attempt to change the value of a readonly variable fails with an
error message.
-i integer

declare -i number
# The script will treat subsequent occurrences of "number" as an integer.

number=3
echo "number = $number" # number = 3

number=three
echo "number = $number" # number = 0
# Tries to evaluate "three" as an integer.

Note that certain arithmetic operations are permitted for declared integer variables without the need for expr or let.

-a array

declare -a indices

The variable indices will be treated as an array.

-f functions

declare -f

A declare -f line with no arguments in a script causes a listing of all the functions previously defined in that script.

declare -f function_name

A declare -f function_name in a script lists just the function named.

-x export

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Typing variables: declare or typeset

declare -x var3

This declares a variable as available for exporting outside the environment of the script itself.
var=$value

declare -x var3=373

The declare command permits assigning a value to a variable in the same statement as setting its properties.

Example 9-18. Using declare to type variables

#!/bin/bash

func1 ()
{
echo This is a function.
}

declare -f # Lists the function above.

echo

declare -i var1 # var1 is an integer.

var1=2367
echo "var1 declared as $var1"
var1=var1+1 # Integer declaration eliminates the need for 'let'.
echo "var1 incremented by 1 is $var1."
# Attempt to change variable declared as integer
echo "Attempting to change var1 to floating point value, 2367.1."
var1=2367.1 # Results in error message, with no change to variable.
echo "var1 is still $var1"

echo

declare -r var2=13.36 # 'declare' permits setting a variable property

#+ and simultaneously assigning it a value.
echo "var2 declared as $var2" # Attempt to change readonly variable.
var2=13.37 # Generates error message, and exit from script.

echo "var2 is still $var2" # This line will not execute.

exit 0 # Script will not exit here.

Prev Home Next

Parameter Substitution Up Indirect References to Variables

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Exit and Exit Status

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 3. Exit and Exit Status

...there are dark corners in the Bourne shell, and people
use all of them.

Chet Ramey

The exit command may be used to terminate a script, just as in a C program. It can also return a value, which is
available to the script's parent process.

Every command returns an exit status (sometimes referred to as a return status ). A successful command returns a 0,
while an unsuccessful one returns a non-zero value that usually may be interpreted as an error code. Well-behaved
UNIX commands, programs, and utilities return a 0 exit code upon successful completion, though there are some
exceptions.

Likewise, functions within a script and the script itself return an exit status. The last command executed in the
function or script determines the exit status. Within a script, an exit nnn command may be used to deliver an
nnn exit status to the shell (nnn must be a decimal number in the 0 - 255 range).

When a script ends with an exit that has no parameter, the exit status of the script is the exit status of the last
command executed in the script (not counting the exit).

$? reads the exit status of the last command executed. After a function returns, $? gives the exit status of the last
command executed in the function. This is Bash's way of giving functions a "return value". After a script terminates,
a $? from the command line gives the exit status of the script, that is, the last command executed in the script,
which is, by convention, 0 on success or an integer in the range 1 - 255 on error.

Example 3-1. exit / exit status

#!/bin/bash

echo hello
echo $? # Exit status 0 returned because command executed successfully.

lskdf # Unrecognized command.

echo $? # Non-zero exit status returned because command failed to execute.

echo

exit 113 # Will return 113 to shell.

# To verify this, type "echo $?" after script terminates.

# By convention, an 'exit 0' indicates success,

#+ while a non-zero exit value means an error or anomalous condition.

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Exit and Exit Status

$? is especially useful for testing the result of a command in a script (see Example 12-27 and Example 12-13).

The !, the logical "not" qualifier, reverses the outcome of a test or command, and this affects its exit status.

Example 3-2. Negating a condition using !

true # the "true" builtin.

echo "exit status of \"true\" = $?" # 0

! true
echo "exit status of \"! true\" = $?" # 1
# Note that the "!" needs a space.
# !true leads to a "command not found" error

# Thanks, S.C.

Certain exit status codes have reserved meanings and should not be user-specified in a script.

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Basics Up Special Characters

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Using exec

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 16. I/O Redirection Next

16.1. Using exec

An exec <filename command redirects stdin to a file. From that point on, all stdin comes from that
file, rather than its normal source (usually keyboard input). This provides a method of reading a file line by
line and possibly parsing each line of input using sed and/or awk.

Example 16-1. Redirecting stdin using exec

#!/bin/bash
# Redirecting stdin using 'exec'.

exec 6<&0 # Link file descriptor #6 with stdin.

# Saves stdin.

exec < data-file # stdin replaced by file "data-file"

read a1 # Reads first line of file "data-file".

read a2 # Reads second line of file "data-file."

echo
echo "Following lines read from file."
echo "-------------------------------"
echo $a1
echo $a2

echo; echo; echo

exec 0<&6 6<&-

# Now restore stdin from fd #6, where it had been saved,
#+ and close fd #6 ( 6<&- ) to free it for other processes to use.
#
# <&6 6<&- also works.

echo -n "Enter data "

read b1 # Now "read" functions as expected, reading from normal stdin.
echo "Input read from stdin."
echo "----------------------"
echo "b1 = $b1"

echo

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Using exec

exit 0

Similarly, an exec >filename command redirects stdout to a designated file. This sends all command
output that would normally go to stdout to that file.

Example 16-2. Redirecting stdout using exec

#!/bin/bash
# reassign-stdout.sh

LOGFILE=logfile.txt

exec 6>&1 # Link file descriptor #6 with stdout.

# Saves stdout.

exec > $LOGFILE # stdout replaced with file "logfile.txt".

# ----------------------------------------------------------- #
# All output from commands in this block sent to file $LOGFILE.

echo -n "Logfile: "

date
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo

echo "Output of \"ls -al\" command"

echo
ls -al
echo; echo
echo "Output of \"df\" command"
echo
df

# ----------------------------------------------------------- #

exec 1>&6 6>&- # Restore stdout and close file descriptor #6.

echo
echo "== stdout now restored to default == "
echo
ls -al
echo

exit 0

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Using exec

Example 16-3. Redirecting both stdin and stdout in the same script with exec

#!/bin/bash
# upperconv.sh
# Converts a specified input file to uppercase.

E_FILE_ACCESS=70
E_WRONG_ARGS=71

if [ ! -r "$1" ] # Is specified input file readable?

then
echo "Can't read from input file!"
echo "Usage: $0 input-file output-file"
exit $E_FILE_ACCESS
fi # Will exit with same error
#+ even if input file ($1) not specified.

if [ -z "$2" ]
then
echo "Need to specify output file."
echo "Usage: $0 input-file output-file"
exit $E_WRONG_ARGS
fi

exec 4<&0
exec < $1 # Will read from input file.

exec 7>&1
exec > $2 # Will write to output file.
# Assumes output file writable (add check?).

# -----------------------------------------------
cat - | tr a-z A-Z # Uppercase conversion.
# ^^^^^ # Reads from stdin.
# ^^^^^^^^^^ # Writes to stdout.
# However, both stdin and stdout were redirected.
# -----------------------------------------------

exec 1>&7 7>&- # Restore stout.

exec 0<&4 4<&- # Restore stdin.

# After restoration, the following line prints to stdout as expected.

echo "File \"$1\" written to \"$2\" as uppercase conversion."

exit 0

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Using exec

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I/O Redirection Up Redirecting Code Blocks

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Aliases

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 24. Aliases

A Bash alias is essentially nothing more than a keyboard shortcut, an abbreviation, a means of avoiding typing a long command
sequence. If, for example, we include alias lm="ls -l | more" in the ~/.bashrc file, then each lm typed at the command line
will automatically be replaced by a ls -l | more. This can save a great deal of typing at the command line and avoid having to
remember complex combinations of commands and options. Setting alias rm="rm -i" (interactive mode delete) may save a
good deal of grief, since it can prevent inadvertently losing important files.

In a script, aliases have very limited usefulness. It would be quite nice if aliases could assume some of the functionality of the C
preprocessor, such as macro expansion, but unfortunately Bash does not expand arguments within the alias body. [1] Moreover,
a script fails to expand an alias itself within "compound constructs", such as if/then statements, loops, and functions. An added
limitation is that an alias will not expand recursively. Almost invariably, whatever we would like an alias to do could be
accomplished much more effectively with a function.

Example 24-1. Aliases within a script

#!/bin/bash
# Invoke with command line parameter to exercise last section of this script.

shopt -s expand_aliases
# Must set this option, else script will not expand aliases.

# First, some fun.

alias Jesse_James='echo "\"Alias Jesse James\" was a 1959 comedy starring Bob Hope."'
Jesse_James

echo; echo; echo;

alias ll="ls -l"

# May use either single (') or double (") quotes to define an alias.

echo "Trying aliased \"ll\":"

ll /usr/X11R6/bin/mk* #* Alias works.

echo

directory=/usr/X11R6/bin/
prefix=mk* # See if wild-card causes problems.
echo "Variables \"directory\" + \"prefix\" = $directory$prefix"
echo

alias lll="ls -l $directory$prefix"

echo "Trying aliased \"lll\":"

lll # Long listing of all files in /usr/X11R6/bin stating with mk.
# Alias handles concatenated variables, including wild-card o.k.

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Aliases

TRUE=1

echo

if [ TRUE ]
then
alias rr="ls -l"
echo "Trying aliased \"rr\" within if/then statement:"
rr /usr/X11R6/bin/mk* #* Error message results!
# Aliases not expanded within compound statements.
echo "However, previously expanded alias still recognized:"
ll /usr/X11R6/bin/mk*
fi

echo

count=0
while [ $count -lt 3 ]
do
alias rrr="ls -l"
echo "Trying aliased \"rrr\" within \"while\" loop:"
rrr /usr/X11R6/bin/mk* #* Alias will not expand here either.
let count+=1
done

echo; echo

alias xyz="cat $1" # Try a positional parameter in an alias.

xyz # Assumes you invoke the script
#+ with a filename as a parameter.
# This seems to work,
#+ although the Bash documentation suggests that it shouldn't.
#
# However, as Steve Jacobson points out,
#+ the "$1" parameter expands immediately upon declaration of the alias,
#+ so, in the strictest sense, this is not an example
#+ of parameterizing an alias.

exit 0

The unalias command removes a previously set alias.

Example 24-2. unalias: Setting and unsetting an alias

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Aliases

#!/bin/bash

shopt -s expand_aliases # Enables alias expansion.

alias llm='ls -al | more'

llm

echo

unalias llm # Unset alias.

llm
# Error message results, since 'llm' no longer recognized.

exit 0

bash$ ./unalias.sh
total 6
drwxrwxr-x 2 bozo bozo 3072 Feb 6 14:04 .
drwxr-xr-x 40 bozo bozo 2048 Feb 6 14:04 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bozo bozo 199 Feb 6 14:04 unalias.sh

./unalias.sh: llm: command not found

Notes

[1] However, aliases do seem to expand positional parameters.

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Local Variables Up List Constructs

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Bash, version 2

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 35. Bash, version 2

The current version of Bash, the one you have running on your machine, is actually version 2.XX.Y.

bash$ echo $BASH_VERSION

2.05.8(1)-release

This update of the classic Bash scripting language added array variables, [1] string and parameter expansion, and a better
method of indirect variable references, among other features.

Example 35-1. String expansion

#!/bin/bash

# String expansion.
# Introduced with version 2 of Bash.

# Strings of the form $'xxx'

# have the standard escaped characters interpreted.

echo $'Ringing bell 3 times \a \a \a'

echo $'Three form feeds \f \f \f'
echo $'10 newlines \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n'

exit 0

Example 35-2. Indirect variable references - the new way

#!/bin/bash

# Indirect variable referencing.

# This has a few of the attributes of references in C++.

a=letter_of_alphabet
letter_of_alphabet=z

echo "a = $a" # Direct reference.

echo "Now a = ${!a}" # Indirect reference.

# The ${!variable} notation is greatly superior to the old "eval var1=\$$var2"

echo

t=table_cell_3
table_cell_3=24

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Bash, version 2

echo "t = ${!t}" # t = 24

table_cell_3=387
echo "Value of t changed to ${!t}" # 387

# This is useful for referencing members of an array or table,

# or for simulating a multi-dimensional array.
# An indexing option would have been nice (sigh).

exit 0

Example 35-3. Simple database application, using indirect variable referencing

#!/bin/bash
# resistor-inventory.sh
# Simple database application using indirect variable referencing.

# ============================================================== #
# Data

B1723_value=470 # ohms
B1723_powerdissip=.25 # watts
B1723_colorcode="yellow-violet-brown" # color bands
B1723_loc=173 # where they are
B1723_inventory=78 # how many

B1724_value=1000
B1724_powerdissip=.25
B1724_colorcode="brown-black-red"
B1724_loc=24N
B1724_inventory=243

B1725_value=10000
B1725_powerdissip=.25
B1725_colorcode="brown-black-orange"
B1725_loc=24N
B1725_inventory=89

# ============================================================== #

echo

PS3='Enter catalog number: '

echo

select catalog_number in "B1723" "B1724" "B1725"

do
Inv=${catalog_number}_inventory
Val=${catalog_number}_value
Pdissip=${catalog_number}_powerdissip
Loc=${catalog_number}_loc
Ccode=${catalog_number}_colorcode

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Bash, version 2

echo
echo "Catalog number $catalog_number:"
echo "There are ${!Inv} of [${!Val} ohm / ${!Pdissip} watt] resistors in stock."
echo "These are located in bin # ${!Loc}."
echo "Their color code is \"${!Ccode}\"."

break
done

echo; echo

# Exercise:
# --------
# Rewrite this script using arrays, rather than indirect variable referencing.
# Which method is more straightforward and intuitive?

# Notes:
# -----
# Shell scripts are inappropriate for anything except the most simple
#+ database applications, and even then it involves workarounds and kludges.
# Much better is to use a language with native support for data structures,
#+ such as C++ or Java (or even Perl).

exit 0

Example 35-4. Using arrays and other miscellaneous trickery to deal four random hands from a deck of cards

#!/bin/bash
# May need to be invoked with #!/bin/bash2 on older machines.

# Cards:
# deals four random hands from a deck of cards.

UNPICKED=0
PICKED=1

DUPE_CARD=99

LOWER_LIMIT=0
UPPER_LIMIT=51
CARDS_IN_SUIT=13
CARDS=52

declare -a Deck
declare -a Suits
declare -a Cards
# It would have been easier and more intuitive
# with a single, 3-dimensional array.
# Perhaps a future version of Bash will support multidimensional arrays.

initialize_Deck ()
{

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Bash, version 2

i=$LOWER_LIMIT
until [ "$i" -gt $UPPER_LIMIT ]
do
Deck[i]=$UNPICKED # Set each card of "Deck" as unpicked.
let "i += 1"
done
echo
}

initialize_Suits ()
{
Suits[0]=C #Clubs
Suits[1]=D #Diamonds
Suits[2]=H #Hearts
Suits[3]=S #Spades
}

initialize_Cards ()
{
Cards=(2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A)
# Alternate method of initializing an array.
}

pick_a_card ()
{
card_number=$RANDOM
let "card_number %= $CARDS"
if [ "${Deck[card_number]}" -eq $UNPICKED ]
then
Deck[card_number]=$PICKED
return $card_number
else
return $DUPE_CARD
fi
}

parse_card ()
{
number=$1
let "suit_number = number / CARDS_IN_SUIT"
suit=${Suits[suit_number]}
echo -n "$suit-"
let "card_no = number % CARDS_IN_SUIT"
Card=${Cards[card_no]}
printf %-4s $Card
# Print cards in neat columns.
}

seed_random () # Seed random number generator.

{
seed=`eval date +%s`
let "seed %= 32766"
RANDOM=$seed
}

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Bash, version 2

deal_cards ()
{
echo

cards_picked=0
while [ "$cards_picked" -le $UPPER_LIMIT ]
do
pick_a_card
t=$?

if [ "$t" -ne $DUPE_CARD ]

then
parse_card $t

u=$cards_picked+1
# Change back to 1-based indexing (temporarily).
let "u %= $CARDS_IN_SUIT"
if [ "$u" -eq 0 ] # Nested if/then condition test.
then
echo
echo
fi
# Separate hands.

let "cards_picked += 1"

fi
done

echo

return 0
}

# Structured programming:
# entire program logic modularized in functions.

#================
seed_random
initialize_Deck
initialize_Suits
initialize_Cards
deal_cards

exit 0
#================

# Exercise 1:
# Add comments to thoroughly document this script.

# Exercise 2:
# Revise the script to print out each hand sorted in suits.
# You may add other bells and whistles if you like.

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Bash, version 2

# Exercise 3:
# Simplify and streamline the logic of the script.

Notes

[1] Chet Ramey promises associative arrays (a Perl feature) in a future Bash release.

Prev Home Next

Shell Scripting Under Windows Up Endnotes

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Beyond the Basics

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Part 3. Beyond the Basics

Table of Contents
9. Variables Revisited
9.1. Internal Variables
9.2. Manipulating Strings
9.3. Parameter Substitution
9.4. Typing variables: declare or typeset
9.5. Indirect References to Variables
9.6. $RANDOM: generate random integer
9.7. The Double Parentheses Construct
10. Loops and Branches
10.1. Loops
10.2. Nested Loops
10.3. Loop Control
10.4. Testing and Branching
11. Internal Commands and Builtins
11.1. Job Control Commands
12. External Filters, Programs and Commands
12.1. Basic Commands
12.2. Complex Commands
12.3. Time / Date Commands
12.4. Text Processing Commands
12.5. File and Archiving Commands
12.6. Communications Commands
12.7. Terminal Control Commands
12.8. Math Commands
12.9. Miscellaneous Commands
13. System and Administrative Commands
14. Command Substitution
15. Arithmetic Expansion
16. I/O Redirection

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Beyond the Basics

16.1. Using exec

16.2. Redirecting Code Blocks
16.3. Applications
17. Here Documents
18. Recess Time

Prev Home Next

Numerical Constants Variables Revisited

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Globbing

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 19. Regular Expressions Next

19.2. Globbing
Bash itself cannot recognize Regular Expressions. In scripts, commands and utilities, such as sed and awk, interpret RE's.

Bash does carry out filename expansion, a process known as "globbing", but this does not use the standard RE set. Instead,
globbing recognizes and expands wildcards. Globbing interprets the standard wildcard characters, * and ?, character lists in square
brackets, and certain other special characters (such as ^ for negating the sense of a match). There are some important limitations on
wildcard characters in globbing, however. Strings containing * will not match filenames that start with a dot, as, for example,
.bashrc. [1] Likewise, the ? has a different meaning in globbing than as part of an RE.

bash$ ls -l
total 2
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 a.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 b.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 c.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 466 Aug 6 17:48 t2.sh
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 758 Jul 30 09:02 test1.txt

bash$ ls -l t?.sh
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 466 Aug 6 17:48 t2.sh

bash$ ls -l [ab]*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 a.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 b.1

bash$ ls -l [a-c]*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 a.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 b.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 c.1

bash$ ls -l [^ab]*
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 c.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 466 Aug 6 17:48 t2.sh
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 758 Jul 30 09:02 test1.txt

bash$ ls -l {b*,c*,*est*}
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 b.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 6 18:42 c.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 758 Jul 30 09:02 test1.txt

bash$ echo *
a.1 b.1 c.1 t2.sh test1.txt

bash$ echo t*
t2.sh test1.txt

Even an echo command performs wildcard expansion on filenames.

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Globbing

See also Example 10-4.

Notes

[1] Filename expansion can match dotfiles, but only if the pattern explicitly includes the dot.

~/[.]bashrc # Will not expand to ~/.bashrc

~/?bashrc # Neither will this.
# Wild cards and metacharacters will not expand to a dot in globbing.

~/.[b]ashrc # Will expand to ~./bashrc

~/.ba?hrc # Likewise.
~/.bashr* # Likewise.

# Setting the "dotglob" option turns this off.

# Thanks, S.C.

Prev Home Next

A Brief Introduction to Regular Up Subshells
Expressions

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A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 19. Regular Expressions Next

19.1. A Brief Introduction to Regular

Expressions
An expression is a string of characters. Those characters that have an interpretation above and beyond
their literal meaning are called metacharacters. A quote symbol, for example, may denote speech by a
person, ditto, or a meta-meaning for the symbols that follow. Regular Expressions are sets of characters
and/or metacharacters that UNIX endows with special features. [1]

The main uses for Regular Expressions (REs) are text searches and string manipulation. An RE matches a
single character or a set of characters (a substring or an entire string).

● The asterisk -- * -- matches any number of repeats of the character string or RE preceding it,
including zero.

"1133*" matches 11 + one or more 3's + possibly other characters: 113,

1133, 111312, and so forth.
● The dot -- . -- matches any one character, except a newline. [2]

"13." matches 13 + at least one of any character (including a space):

1133, 11333, but not 13 (additional character missing).
● The caret -- ^ -- matches the beginning of a line, but sometimes, depending on context, negates the
meaning of a set of characters in an RE.
●

The dollar sign -- $ -- at the end of an RE matches the end of a line.

"^$" matches blank lines.

●

Brackets -- [...] -- enclose a set of characters to match in a single RE.

"[xyz]" matches the characters x, y, or z.

"[c-n]" matches any of the characters in the range c to n.

"[B-Pk-y]" matches any of the characters in the ranges B to P and k to y.

"[a-z0-9]" matches any lowercase letter or any digit.

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A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions

"[^b-d]" matches all characters except those in the range b to d. This is an instance of ^ negating
or inverting the meaning of the following RE (taking on a role similar to ! in a different context).

Combined sequences of bracketed characters match common word patterns. "[Yy][Ee][Ss]"

matches yes, Yes, YES, yEs, and so forth. "[0-9][0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]"
matches any Social Security number.
● The backslash -- \ -- escapes a special character, which means that character gets interpreted
literally.

A "\$" reverts back to its literal meaning of "$", rather than its RE meaning of end-of-line.
Likewise a "\\" has the literal meaning of "\".
●

Escaped "angle brackets" -- \<...\> -- mark word boundaries.

The angle brackets must be escaped, since otherwise they have only their literal character meaning.

"\<the\>" matches the word "the", but not the words "them", "there", "other", etc.

bash$ cat textfile

This is line 1, of which there is only one instance.
This is the only instance of line 2.
This is line 3, another line.
This is line 4.

bash$ grep 'the' textfile

This is line 1, of which there is only one instance.
This is the only instance of line 2.
This is line 3, another line.

bash$ grep '\<the\>' textfile

This is the only instance of line 2.

Extended REs. Used in egrep, awk, and Perl

The question mark -- ? -- matches zero or one of the previous RE. It is generally used for matching

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A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions

single characters.
●

The plus -- + -- matches one or more of the previous RE. It serves a role similar to the *, but does
not match zero occurrences.

# GNU versions of sed and awk can use "+",

# but it needs to be escaped.

echo a111b | sed -ne '/a1\+b/p'

echo a111b | grep 'a1\+b'
echo a111b | gawk '/a1+b/'
# All of above are equivalent.

# Thanks, S.C.

● Escaped "curly brackets" -- \{ \} -- indicate the number of occurrences of a preceding RE to match.

It is necessary to escape the curly brackets since they have only their literal character meaning
otherwise. This usage is technically not part of the basic RE set.

"[0-9]\{5\}" matches exactly five digits (characters in the range of 0 to 9).

Curly brackets are not available as an RE in the "classic" version of awk.

However, gawk has the --re-interval option that permits them (without
being escaped).

bash$ echo 2222 | gawk --re-interval '/2{3}/'

2222

● Parentheses -- ( ) -- enclose groups of REs. They are useful with the following "|" operator and in
substring extraction using expr.
● The -- | -- "or" RE operator matches any of a set of alternate characters.

bash$ egrep 're(a|e)d' misc.txt

People who read seem to be better informed than those who do not.
The clarinet produces sound by the vibration of its reed.

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A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions

POSIX Character Classes. [:class:]

This is an alternate method of specifying a range of characters to match.

● [:alnum:] matches alphabetic or numeric characters. This is equivalent to [A-Za-z0-9].

● [:alpha:] matches alphabetic characters. This is equivalent to [A-Za-z].
● [:blank:] matches a space or a tab.
● [:cntrl:] matches control characters.
● [:digit:] matches (decimal) digits. This is equivalent to [0-9].
● [:graph:] (graphic printable characters). Matches characters in the range of ASCII 33 - 126.
This is the same as [:print:], below, but excluding the space character.
● [:lower:] matches lowercase alphabetic characters. This is equivalent to [a-z].
● [:print:] (printable characters). Matches characters in the range of ASCII 32 - 126. This is the
same as [:graph:], above, but adding the space character.
● [:space:] matches whitespace characters (space and horizontal tab).
● [:upper:] matches uppercase alphabetic characters. This is equivalent to [A-Z].
● [:xdigit:] matches hexadecimal digits. This is equivalent to [0-9A-Fa-f].

POSIX character classes generally require quoting or double brackets ([[ ]]).

bash$ grep [[:digit:]] test.file

abc=723

These character classes may even be used with globbing, to a limited extent.

bash$ ls -l ?[[:digit:]][[:digit:]]?
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bozo bozo 0 Aug 21 14:47 a33b

To see POSIX character classes used in scripts, refer to Example 12-14 and
Example 12-15.

Sed, awk, and Perl, used as filters in scripts, take REs as arguments when "sifting" or transforming files or
I/O streams. See Example A-12 and Example A-17 for illustrations of this.

"Sed & Awk", by Dougherty and Robbins gives a very complete and lucid treatment of REs (see the
Bibliography).

Notes

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A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions

[1] The simplest type of Regular Expression is a character string that retains its literal meaning, not
containing any metacharacters.
[2] Since sed, awk, and grep process single lines, there will usually not be a newline to match. In those
cases where there is a newline in a multiple line expression, the dot will match the newline.

#!/bin/bash

sed -e 'N;s/.*/[&]/' << EOF # Here Document

line1
line2
EOF
# OUTPUT:
# [line1
# line2]

echo

awk '{ $0=$1 "\n" $2; if (/line.1/) {print}}' << EOF

line 1
line 2
EOF
# OUTPUT:
# line
# 1

# Thanks, S.C.

exit 0

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Subshells

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 20. Subshells

Running a shell script launches another instance of the command processor. Just as your commands are interpreted at
the command line prompt, similarly does a script batch process a list of commands in a file. Each shell script running
is, in effect, a subprocess of the parent shell, the one that gives you the prompt at the console or in an xterm window.

A shell script can also launch subprocesses. These subshells let the script do parallel processing, in effect executing
multiple subtasks simultaneously.

Command List in Parentheses

( command1; command2; command3; ... )

A command list embedded between parentheses runs as a subshell.

Variables in a subshell are not visible outside the block of code in the subshell. They are not accessible to the
parent process, to the shell that launched the subshell. These are, in effect, local variables.

Example 20-1. Variable scope in a subshell

#!/bin/bash
# subshell.sh

echo

outer_variable=Outer

(
inner_variable=Inner
echo "From subshell, \"inner_variable\" = $inner_variable"
echo "From subshell, \"outer\" = $outer_variable"
)

echo

if [ -z "$inner_variable" ]
then
echo "inner_variable undefined in main body of shell"
else
echo "inner_variable defined in main body of shell"
fi

echo "From main body of shell, \"inner_variable\" = $inner_variable"

# $inner_variable will show as uninitialized because
# variables defined in a subshell are "local variables".

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Subshells

echo

exit 0

See also Example 32-1.

Directory changes made in a subshell do not carry over to the parent shell.

Example 20-2. List User Profiles

#!/bin/bash
# allprofs.sh: print all user profiles

# This script written by Heiner Steven, and modified by the document author.

FILE=.bashrc # File containing user profile,

#+ was ".profile" in original script.

for home in `awk -F: '{print $6}' /etc/passwd`

do
[ -d "$home" ] || continue # If no home directory, go to next.
[ -r "$home" ] || continue # If not readable, go to next.
(cd $home; [ -e $FILE ] && less $FILE)
done

# When script terminates, there is no need to 'cd' back to original directory,

#+ because 'cd $home' takes place in a subshell.

exit 0

A subshell may be used to set up a "dedicated environment" for a command group.

COMMAND1
COMMAND2
COMMAND3
(
IFS=:
PATH=/bin
unset TERMINFO
set -C
shift 5
COMMAND4
COMMAND5
exit 3 # Only exits the subshell.
)
# The parent shell has not been affected, and the environment is preserved.

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Subshells

COMMAND6
COMMAND7

One application of this is testing whether a variable is defined.

if (set -u; : $variable) 2> /dev/null
then
echo "Variable is set."
fi

# Could also be written [[ ${variable-x} != x || ${variable-y} != y ]]

# or [[ ${variable-x} != x$variable ]]
# or [[ ${variable+x} = x ]])

Another application is checking for a lock file:

if (set -C; : > lock_file) 2> /dev/null
then
echo "Another user is already running that script."
exit 65
fi

# Thanks, S.C.

Processes may execute in parallel within different subshells. This permits breaking a complex task into subcomponents
processed concurrently.

Example 20-3. Running parallel processes in subshells

(cat list1 list2 list3 | sort | uniq > list123) &

(cat list4 list5 list6 | sort | uniq > list456) &
# Merges and sorts both sets of lists simultaneously.
# Running in background ensures parallel execution.
#
# Same effect as
# cat list1 list2 list3 | sort | uniq > list123 &
# cat list4 list5 list6 | sort | uniq > list456 &

wait # Don't execute the next command until subshells finish.

diff list123 list456

Redirecting I/O to a subshell uses the "|" pipe operator, as in ls -al | (command).

A command block between curly braces does not launch a subshell.

{ command1; command2; command3; ... }

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Subshells

Globbing Up Restricted Shells

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A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Appendix B. A Sed and Awk Micro-

Primer
Table of Contents
B.1. Sed
B.2. Awk

This is a very brief introduction to the sed and awk text processing utilities. We will deal
with only a few basic commands here, but that will suffice for understanding simple sed and
awk constructs within shell scripts.

sed: a non-interactive text file editor

awk: a field-oriented pattern processing language with a C-like syntax

For all their differences, the two utilities share a similar invocation syntax, both use regular
expressions , both read input by default from stdin, and both output to stdout. These
are well-behaved UNIX tools, and they work together well. The output from one can be
piped into the other, and their combined capabilities give shell scripts some of the power of
Perl.

One important difference between the utilities is that while shell scripts can easily
pass arguments to sed, it is more complicated for awk (see Example 34-3 and
Example 9-20).

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Contributed Scripts Sed

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Regular Expressions

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 19. Regular Expressions

Table of Contents
19.1. A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions
19.2. Globbing

To fully utilize the power of shell scripting, you need to master Regular Expressions.
Certain commands and utilities commonly used in scripts, such as expr, sed and awk
interpret and use REs.

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Advanced Topics Up A Brief Introduction to
Regular Expressions

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Shell Scripting Under Windows

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.9. Shell Scripting Under

Windows
Even users running that other OS can run UNIX-like shell scripts, and therefore benefit
from many of the lessons of this book. The Cygwin package from Cygnus and the MKS
utilities from Mortice Kern Associates add shell scripting capabilities to Windows.

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Portability Issues Up Bash, version 2

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Endnotes

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 36. Endnotes

Table of Contents
36.1. Author's Note
36.2. About the Author
36.3. Tools Used to Produce This Book
36.3.1. Hardware
36.3.2. Software and Printware
36.4. Credits

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Bash, version 2 Author's Note

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Advanced Topics

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Part 4. Advanced Topics

Table of Contents
19. Regular Expressions
19.1. A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions
19.2. Globbing
20. Subshells
21. Restricted Shells
22. Process Substitution
23. Functions
23.1. Complex Functions and Function Complexities
23.2. Local Variables
24. Aliases
25. List Constructs
26. Arrays
27. Files
28. /dev and /proc
28.1. /dev
28.2. /proc
29. Of Zeros and Nulls
30. Debugging
31. Options
32. Gotchas
33. Scripting With Style
33.1. Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet
34. Miscellany
34.1. Interactive and non-interactive shells and scripts
34.2. Shell Wrappers
34.3. Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives
34.4. Optimizations
34.5. Assorted Tips
34.6. Oddities

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Advanced Topics

34.7. Security Issues

34.8. Portability Issues
34.9. Shell Scripting Under Windows
35. Bash, version 2

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Recess Time Regular Expressions

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Introduction

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Part 1. Introduction
The shell is a command interpreter. More than just the insulating layer between the
operating system kernel and the user, it's also a fairly powerful programming language. A
shell program, called a script, is an easy-to-use tool for building applications by "gluing"
together system calls, tools, utilities, and compiled binaries. Virtually the entire repertoire of
UNIX commands, utilities, and tools is available for invocation by a shell script. If that were
not enough, internal shell commands, such as testing and loop constructs, give additional
power and flexibility to scripts. Shell scripts lend themselves exceptionally well to
administrative system tasks and other routine repetitive jobs not requiring the bells and
whistles of a full-blown tightly structured programming language.

Table of Contents
1. Why Shell Programming?
2. Starting Off With a Sha-Bang
2.1. Invoking the script
2.2. Preliminary Exercises

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Advanced Bash-Scripting Why Shell Programming?
Guide

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Why Shell Programming?

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 1. Why Shell

Programming?
A working knowledge of shell scripting is essential to everyone wishing to become
reasonably adept at system administration, even if they do not anticipate ever having to
actually write a script. Consider that as a Linux machine boots up, it executes the shell
scripts in /etc/rc.d to restore the system configuration and set up services. A detailed
understanding of these startup scripts is important for analyzing the behavior of a system,
and possibly modifying it.

Writing shell scripts is not hard to learn, since the scripts can be built in bite-sized sections
and there is only a fairly small set of shell-specific operators and options [1] to learn. The
syntax is simple and straightforward, similar to that of invoking and chaining together
utilities at the command line, and there are only a few "rules" to learn. Most short scripts
work right the first time, and debugging even the longer ones is straightforward.

A shell script is a "quick and dirty" method of prototyping a complex application. Getting
even a limited subset of the functionality to work in a shell script, even if slowly, is often a
useful first stage in project development. This way, the structure of the application can be
tested and played with, and the major pitfalls found before proceeding to the final coding in
C, C++, Java, or Perl.

Shell scripting hearkens back to the classical UNIX philosophy of breaking complex
projects into simpler subtasks, of chaining together components and utilities. Many consider
this a better, or at least more esthetically pleasing approach to problem solving than using
one of the new generation of high powered all-in-one languages, such as Perl, which attempt
to be all things to all people, but at the cost of forcing you to alter your thinking processes to
fit the tool.

When not to use shell scripts

● resource-intensive tasks, especially where speed is a factor (sorting, hashing, etc.)

● procedures involving heavy-duty math operations, especially floating point

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Why Shell Programming?

arithmetic, arbitrary precision calculations, or complex numbers (use C++ or

FORTRAN instead)
● cross-platform portability required (use C instead)
● complex applications, where structured programming is a necessity (need
typechecking of variables, function prototypes, etc.)
● mission-critical applications upon which you are betting the ranch, or the future of
the company
● situations where security is important, where you need to guarantee the integrity of
your system and protect against intrusion, cracking, and vandalism
● project consists of subcomponents with interlocking dependencies
● extensive file operations required (Bash is limited to serial file access, and that only
in a particularly clumsy and inefficient line-by-line fashion)
● need multi-dimensional arrays
● need data structures, such as linked lists or trees
● need to generate or manipulate graphics or GUIs
● need direct access to system hardware
● need port or socket I/O
● need to use libraries or interface with legacy code
● proprietary, closed-source applications (shell scripts are necessarily Open Source)

If any of the above applies, consider a more powerful scripting language, perhaps Perl, Tcl,
Python, or possibly a high-level compiled language such as C, C++, or Java. Even then,
prototyping the application as a shell script might still be a useful development step.

We will be using Bash, an acronym for "Bourne-Again Shell" and a pun on Stephen
Bourne's now classic Bourne Shell. Bash has become a de facto standard for shell scripting
on all flavors of UNIX. Most of the principles dealt with in this book apply equally well to
scripting with other shells, such as the Korn Shell, from which Bash derives some of its
features, [2] and the C Shell and its variants. (Note that C Shell programming is not
recommended due to certain inherent problems, as pointed out in a news group posting by
Tom Christiansen in October of 1993).

The following is a tutorial in shell scripting. It relies heavily on examples to illustrate

features of the shell. As far as possible, the example scripts have been tested, and some of
them may actually be useful in real life. The reader should use the actual examples in the
source archive (something-or-other.sh), [3] give them execute permission (chmod
u+rx scriptname), then run them to see what happens. Should the source archive not
be available, then cut-and-paste from the HTML, pdf, or text rendered versions. Be aware
that some of the scripts below introduce features before they are explained, and this may
require the reader to temporarily skip ahead for enlightenment.

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Why Shell Programming?

Unless otherwise noted, the book author wrote the example scripts that follow.

Notes

[1] These are referred to as builtins, features internal to the shell.

[2] Many of the features of ksh88, and even a few from the updated ksh93 have been
merged into Bash.
[3] By convention, user-written shell scripts that are Bourne shell compliant generally
take a name with a .sh extension. System scripts, such as those found in
/etc/rc.d, do not follow this guideline.

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Introduction Up Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

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Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

Table of Contents
2.1. Invoking the script
2.2. Preliminary Exercises

In the simplest case, a script is nothing more than a list of system commands stored in a file. At the very least, this saves the effort
of retyping that particular sequence of commands each time it is invoked.

Example 2-1. cleanup: A script to clean up the log files in /var/log

# cleanup
# Run as root, of course.

cd /var/log
cat /dev/null > messages
cat /dev/null > wtmp
echo "Logs cleaned up."

There is nothing unusual here, just a set of commands that could just as easily be invoked one by one from the command line on
the console or in an xterm. The advantages of placing the commands in a script go beyond not having to retype them time and
again. The script can easily be modified, customized, or generalized for a particular application.

Example 2-2. cleanup: An enhanced and generalized version of above script.

#!/bin/bash
# cleanup, version 2
# Run as root, of course.

LOG_DIR=/var/log
ROOT_UID=0 # Only users with $UID 0 have root privileges.
LINES=50 # Default number of lines saved.
E_XCD=66 # Can't change directory?
E_NOTROOT=67 # Non-root exit error.

if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]

then
echo "Must be root to run this script."
exit $E_NOTROOT
fi

if [ -n "$1" ]
# Test if command line argument present (non-empty).
then
lines=$1
else
lines=$LINES # Default, if not specified on command line.
fi

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Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

# Stephane Chazelas suggests the following,

#+ as a better way of checking command line arguments,
#+ but this is still a bit advanced for this stage of the tutorial.
#
# E_WRONGARGS=65 # Non-numerical argument (bad arg format)
#
# case "$1" in
# "" ) lines=50;;
# *[!0-9]*) echo "Usage: `basename $0` file-to-cleanup"; exit $E_WRONGARGS;;
# * ) lines=$1;;
# esac
#
#* Skip ahead to "Loops" chapter to decipher all this.

cd $LOG_DIR

if [ `pwd` != "$LOG_DIR" ] # or if [ "$PWD" != "$LOG_DIR" ]

# Not in /var/log?
then
echo "Can't change to $LOG_DIR."
exit $E_XCD
fi # Doublecheck if in right directory, before messing with log file.

# far more efficient is:

#
# cd /var/log || {
# echo "Cannot change to necessary directory." >&2
# exit $E_XCD;
# }

tail -$lines messages > mesg.temp # Saves last section of message log file.
mv mesg.temp messages # Becomes new log directory.

# cat /dev/null > messages

#* No longer needed, as the above method is safer.

cat /dev/null > wtmp # ': > wtmp' and '> wtmp' have the same effect.
echo "Logs cleaned up."

exit 0
# A zero return value from the script upon exit
#+ indicates success to the shell.

Since you may not wish to wipe out the entire system log, this variant of the first script keeps the last section of the message log
intact. You will constantly discover ways of refining previously written scripts for increased effectiveness.

The sha-bang ( #!) at the head of a script tells your system that this file is a set of commands to be fed to the command interpreter
indicated. The #! is actually a two-byte [1] "magic number", a special marker that designates a file type, or in this case an
executable shell script (see man magic for more details on this fascinating topic). Immediately following the sha-bang is a path
name. This is the path to the program that interprets the commands in the script, whether it be a shell, a programming language, or

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Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

a utility. This command interpreter then executes the commands in the script, starting at the top (line 1 of the script), ignoring
comments. [2]

#!/bin/sh
#!/bin/bash
#!/usr/bin/perl
#!/usr/bin/tcl
#!/bin/sed -f
#!/usr/awk -f

Each of the above script header lines calls a different command interpreter, be it /bin/sh, the default shell (bash in a Linux
system) or otherwise. [3] Using #!/bin/sh, the default Bourne Shell in most commercial variants of UNIX, makes the script
portable to non-Linux machines, though you may have to sacrifice a few Bash-specific features (the script will conform to the
POSIX [4] sh standard).

Note that the path given at the "sha-bang" must be correct, otherwise an error message, usually "Command not found" will be the
only result of running the script.

#! can be omitted if the script consists only of a set of generic system commands, using no internal shell directives. Example 2,
above, requires the initial #!, since the variable assignment line, lines=50, uses a shell-specific construct. Note that
#!/bin/sh invokes the default shell interpreter, which defaults to /bin/bash on a Linux machine.

This tutorial encourages a modular approach to constructing a script. Make note of and collect "boilerplate" code snippets
that might be useful in future scripts. Eventually you can build a quite extensive library of nifty routines. As an example,
the following script prolog tests whether the script has been invoked with the correct number of parameters.

if [ $# -ne Number_of_expected args ]

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` whatever"
exit $WRONG_ARGS
fi

Notes

[1] Some flavors of UNIX (those based on 4.2BSD) take a four-byte magic number, requiring a blank after the !, #! /bin/sh.
[2] The #! line in a shell script will be the first thing the command interpreter (sh or bash) sees. Since this line begins with a #, it
will be correctly interpreted as a comment when the command interpreter finally executes the script. The line has already
served its purpose - calling the command interpreter.
[3] This allows some cute tricks.

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Starting Off With a Sha-Bang

#!/bin/rm
# Self-deleting script.

# Nothing much seems to happen when you run this... except that the file disappears.

WHATEVER=65

echo "This line will never print (betcha!)."

exit $WHATEVER # Doesn't matter. The script will not exit here.

Also, try starting a README file with a #!/bin/more, and making it executable. The result is a self-listing documentation
file.
[4] Portable Operating System Interface, an attempt to standardize UNIX-like OSes.

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Why Shell Programming? Up Invoking the script

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Basics

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Part 2. Basics
Table of Contents
3. Exit and Exit Status
4. Special Characters
5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters
5.1. Variable Substitution
5.2. Variable Assignment
5.3. Bash Variables Are Untyped
5.4. Special Variable Types
6. Quoting
7. Tests
7.1. Test Constructs
7.2. File test operators
7.3. Comparison operators (binary)
7.4. Nested if/then Condition Tests
7.5. Testing Your Knowledge of Tests
8. Operations and Related Topics
8.1. Operators
8.2. Numerical Constants

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Preliminary Exercises Exit and Exit Status

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Introduction to Variables and Parameters

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Chapter 5. Introduction to Variables

and Parameters
Table of Contents
5.1. Variable Substitution
5.2. Variable Assignment
5.3. Bash Variables Are Untyped
5.4. Special Variable Types

Variables are at the heart of every programming and scripting language. They appear in
arithmetic operations and manipulation of quantities, string parsing, and are indispensable
for working in the abstract with symbols - tokens that represent something else. A variable
is nothing more than a location or set of locations in computer memory holding an item of
data.

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Special Characters Up Variable Substitution

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Tests

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 7. Tests
Table of Contents
7.1. Test Constructs
7.2. File test operators
7.3. Comparison operators (binary)
7.4. Nested if/then Condition Tests
7.5. Testing Your Knowledge of Tests

Every reasonably complete programming language can test for a condition, then act
according to the result of the test. Bash has the test command, various bracket and
parenthesis operators, and the if/then construct.

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Quoting Up Test Constructs

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Operations and Related Topics

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 8. Operations and Related

Topics
Table of Contents
8.1. Operators
8.2. Numerical Constants

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Testing Your Knowledge of Up Operators
Tests

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Variables Revisited

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 9. Variables Revisited

Table of Contents
9.1. Internal Variables
9.2. Manipulating Strings
9.2.1. Manipulating strings using awk
9.2.2. Further Discussion
9.3. Parameter Substitution
9.4. Typing variables: declare or typeset
9.5. Indirect References to Variables
9.6. $RANDOM: generate random integer
9.7. The Double Parentheses Construct

Used properly, variables can add power and flexibility to scripts. This requires learning their
subtleties and nuances.

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Beyond the Basics Up Internal Variables

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System and Administrative Commands

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Chapter 13. System and Administrative Commands

The startup and shutdown scripts in /etc/rc.d illustrate the uses (and usefulness) of many of these comands. These are usually
invoked by root and used for system maintenance or emergency filesystem repairs. Use with caution, as some of these commands may
damage your system if misused.

Users and Groups

chown, chgrp

The chown command changes the ownership of a file or files. This command is a useful method that root can use to shift file
ownership from one user to another. An ordinary user may not change the ownership of files, not even her own files. [1]

root# chown bozo *.txt

The chgrp command changes the group ownership of a file or files. You must be owner of the file(s) as well as a member of
the destination group (or root) to use this operation.

chgrp --recursive dunderheads *.data

# The "dunderheads" group will now own all the "*.data" files
#+ all the way down the $PWD directory tree (that's what "recursive" means).

useradd, userdel

The useradd administrative command adds a user account to the system and creates a home directory for that particular user, if
so specified. The corresponding userdel command removes a user account from the system [2] and deletes associated files.

The adduser command is a synonym for useradd and is usually a symbolic link to it.
id

The id command lists the real and effective user IDs and the group IDs of the current user. This is the counterpart to the $UID,
$EUID, and $GROUPS internal Bash variables.

bash$ id
uid=501(bozo) gid=501(bozo) groups=501(bozo),22(cdrom),80(cdwriter),81(audio)

bash$ echo $UID

501

Also see Example 9-5.

who

Show all users logged on to the system.

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bash$ who
bozo tty1 Apr 27 17:45
bozo pts/0 Apr 27 17:46
bozo pts/1 Apr 27 17:47
bozo pts/2 Apr 27 17:49

The -m gives detailed information about only the current user. Passing any two arguments to who is the equivalent of who -m,
as in who am i or who The Man.

bash$ who -m
localhost.localdomain!bozo pts/2 Apr 27 17:49

whoami is similar to who -m, but only lists the user name.

bash$ whoami
bozo

Show all logged on users and the processes belonging to them. This is an extended version of who. The output of w may be
piped to grep to find a specific user and/or process.

bash$ w | grep startx

bozo tty1 - 4:22pm 6:41 4.47s 0.45s startx

logname

Show current user's login name (as found in /var/run/utmp). This is a near-equivalent to whoami, above.

bash$ logname
bozo

bash$ whoami
bozo

However...

bash$ su
Password: ......

bash# whoami
root
bash# logname
bozo

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su

Runs a program or script as a substitute user. su rjones starts a shell as user rjones. A naked su defaults to root. See Example
A-15.
sudo

Runs a command as root (or another user). This may be used in a script, thus permitting a regular user to run the script.

#!/bin/bash

# Some commands.
sudo cp /root/secretfile /home/bozo/secret
# Some more commands.

The file /etc/sudoers holds the names of users permitted to invoke sudo.
users

Show all logged on users. This is the approximate equivalent of who -q.
ac

Show users' logged in time, as read from /var/log/wtmp. This is one of the GNU accounting utilities.

bash$ ac
total 68.08

last

List last logged in users, as read from /var/log/wtmp. This command can also show remote logins.
groups

Lists the current user and the groups she belongs to. This corresponds to the $GROUPS internal variable, but gives the group
names, rather than the numbers.

bash$ groups
bozita cdrom cdwriter audio xgrp

bash$ echo $GROUPS

501

newgrp

Change user's group ID without logging out. This permits access to the new group's files. Since users may be members of
multiple groups simultaneously, this command finds little use.

Terminals

tty

Echoes the name of the current user's terminal. Note that each separate xterm window counts as a different terminal.

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bash$ tty
/dev/pts/1

stty

Shows and/or changes terminal settings. This complex command, used in a script, can control terminal behavior and the way
output displays. See the info page, and study it carefully.

Example 13-1. setting an erase character

#!/bin/bash
# erase.sh: Using "stty" to set an erase character when reading input.

echo -n "What is your name? "

read name # Try to erase characters of input.
# Won't work.
echo "Your name is $name."

stty erase '#' # Set "hashmark" (#) as erase character.

echo -n "What is your name? "
read name # Use # to erase last character typed.
echo "Your name is $name."

exit 0

Example 13-2. secret password: Turning off terminal echoing

#!/bin/bash

echo
echo -n "Enter password "
read passwd
echo "password is $passwd"
echo -n "If someone had been looking over your shoulder, "
echo "your password would have been compromised."

echo && echo # Two line-feeds in an "and list".

stty -echo # Turns off screen echo.

echo -n "Enter password again "

read passwd
echo
echo "password is $passwd"
echo

stty echo # Restores screen echo.

exit 0

A creative use of stty is detecting a user keypress (without hitting ENTER).

Example 13-3. Keypress detection

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#!/bin/bash
# keypress.sh: Detect a user keypress ("hot keyboard").

echo

old_tty_settings=$(stty -g) # Save old settings.

stty -icanon
Keypress=$(head -c1) # or $(dd bs=1 count=1 2> /dev/null)
# on non-GNU systems

echo
echo "Key pressed was \""$Keypress"\"."
echo

stty "$old_tty_settings" # Restore old settings.

# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

exit 0

Also see Example 9-3.

terminals and modes

Normally, a terminal works in the canonical mode. When a user hits a key, the resulting character does not immediately go to the
program actually running in this terminal. A buffer local to the terminal stores keystrokes. When the user hits the ENTER key, this
sends all the stored keystrokes to the program running. There is even a basic line editor inside the terminal.

bash$ stty -a
speed 9600 baud; rows 36; columns 96; line = 0;
intr = ^C; quit = ^\; erase = ^H; kill = ^U; eof = ^D; eol = <undef>; eol2 =
<undef>;
start = ^Q; stop = ^S; susp = ^Z; rprnt = ^R; werase = ^W; lnext = ^V; flush = ^O;
...
isig icanon iexten echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh -xcase -tostop -echoprt

Using canonical mode, it is possible to redefine the special keys for the local terminal line editor.

bash$ cat > filexxx

wha<ctl-W>I<ctl-H>foo bar<ctl-U>hello world<ENTER>
<ctl-D>
bash$ cat filexxx
hello world
bash$ bash$ wc -c < file
13

The process controlling the terminal receives only 13 characters (12 alphabetic ones, plus a newline), although the user hit 26 keys.

In non-canonical ("raw") mode, every key hit (including special editing keys such as ctl-H) sends a character immediately to the
controlling process.

The Bash prompt disables both icanon and echo, since it replaces the basic terminal line editor with its own more elaborate one.

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For example, when you hit ctl-A at the Bash prompt, there's no ^A echoed by the terminal, but Bash gets a \1 character, interprets
it, and moves the cursor to the begining of the line.

Stephane Chazelas

tset

Show or initialize terminal settings. This is a less capable version of stty.

bash$ tset -r
Terminal type is xterm-xfree86.
Kill is control-U (^U).
Interrupt is control-C (^C).

setserial

Set or display serial port parameters. This command must be run by root user and is usually found in a system setup script.

# From /etc/pcmcia/serial script:

IRQ=`setserial /dev/$DEVICE | sed -e 's/.*IRQ: //'`

setserial /dev/$DEVICE irq 0 ; setserial /dev/$DEVICE irq $IRQ

getty, agetty

The initialization process for a terminal uses getty or agetty to set it up for login by a user. These commands are not used
within user shell scripts. Their scripting counterpart is stty.
mesg

Enables or disables write access to the current user's terminal. Disabling access would prevent another user on the network to
write to the terminal.

It can be very annoying to have a message about ordering pizza suddenly appear in the middle of the text file you
are editing. On a multi-user network, you might therefore wish to disable write access to your terminal when you
need to avoid interruptions.
wall

This is an acronym for "write all", i.e., sending a message to all users at every terminal logged into the network. It is primarily
a system administrator's tool, useful, for example, when warning everyone that the system will shortly go down due to a
problem (see Example 17-2).

bash$ wall System going down for maintenance in 5 minutes!

Broadcast message from bozo (pts/1) Sun Jul 8 13:53:27 2001...

System going down for maintenance in 5 minutes!

If write access to a particular terminal has been disabled with mesg, then wall cannot send a message to it.
dmesg

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Lists all system bootup messages to stdout. Handy for debugging and ascertaining which device drivers were installed and
which system interrupts in use. The output of dmesg may, of course, be parsed with grep, sed, or awk from within a script.

Information and Statistics

uname

Output system specifications (OS, kernel version, etc.) to stdout. Invoked with the -a option, gives verbose system info (see
Example 12-4). The -s option shows only the OS type.

bash$ uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.2.15-2.5.0 #1 Sat Feb 5 00:13:43 EST 2000 i686 unknown

bash$ uname -s
Linux

arch

Show system architecture. Equivalent to uname -m. See Example 10-25.

bash$ arch
i686

bash$ uname -m
i686

lastcomm

Gives information about previous commands, as stored in the /var/account/pacct file. Command name and user name
can be specified by options. This is one of the GNU accounting utilities.
lastlog

List the last login time of all system users. This references the /var/log/lastlog file.

bash$ lastlog
root tty1 Fri Dec 7 18:43:21 -0700 2001
bin **Never logged in**
daemon **Never logged in**
...
bozo tty1 Sat Dec 8 21:14:29 -0700 2001

bash$ lastlog | grep root

root tty1 Fri Dec 7 18:43:21 -0700 2001

This command will fail if the user invoking it does not have read permission for the
/var/log/lastlog file.
lsof

List open files. This command outputs a detailed table of all currently open files and gives information about their owner, size,

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the processes associated with them, and more. Of course, lsof may be piped to grep and/or awk to parse and analyze its results.

bash$ lsof
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
init 1 root mem REG 3,5 30748 30303 /sbin/init
init 1 root mem REG 3,5 73120 8069 /lib/ld-2.1.3.so
init 1 root mem REG 3,5 931668 8075 /lib/libc-2.1.3.so
cardmgr 213 root mem REG 3,5 36956 30357 /sbin/cardmgr
...

strace

Diagnostic and debugging tool for tracing system calls and signals. The simplest way of invoking it is strace COMMAND.

bash$ strace df
execve("/bin/df", ["df"], [/* 45 vars */]) = 0
uname({sys="Linux", node="bozo.localdomain", ...}) = 0
brk(0) = 0x804f5e4
...

This is the Linux equivalent of truss.

free

Shows memory and cache usage in tabular form. The output of this command lends itself to parsing, using grep, awk or Perl.
The procinfo command shows all the information that free does, and much more.

bash$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 30504 28624 1880 15820 1608 16376
-/+ buffers/cache: 10640 19864
Swap: 68540 3128 65412

To show unused RAM memory:

bash$ free | grep Mem | awk '{ print $4 }'

1880

procinfo

Extract and list information and statistics from the /proc pseudo-filesystem. This gives a very extensive and detailed listing.

bash$ procinfo | grep Bootup

Bootup: Wed Mar 21 15:15:50 2001 Load average: 0.04 0.21 0.34 3/47 6829

lsdev

List devices, that is, show installed hardware.

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bash$ lsdev
Device DMA IRQ I/O Ports
------------------------------------------------
cascade 4 2
dma 0080-008f
dma1 0000-001f
dma2 00c0-00df
fpu 00f0-00ff
ide0 14 01f0-01f7 03f6-03f6
...

du

Show (disk) file usage, recursively. Defaults to current working directory, unless otherwise specified.

bash$ du -ach
1.0k ./wi.sh
1.0k ./tst.sh
1.0k ./random.file
6.0k .
6.0k total

df

Shows filesystem usage in tabular form.

bash$ df
Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda5 273262 92607 166547 36% /
/dev/hda8 222525 123951 87085 59% /home
/dev/hda7 1408796 1075744 261488 80% /usr

stat

Gives detailed and verbose statistics on a given file (even a directory or device file) or set of files.

bash$ stat test.cru

File: "test.cru"
Size: 49970 Allocated Blocks: 100 Filetype: Regular File
Mode: (0664/-rw-rw-r--) Uid: ( 501/ bozo) Gid: ( 501/ bozo)
Device: 3,8 Inode: 18185 Links: 1
Access: Sat Jun 2 16:40:24 2001
Modify: Sat Jun 2 16:40:24 2001
Change: Sat Jun 2 16:40:24 2001

If the target file does not exist, stat returns an error message.

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bash$ stat nonexistent-file

nonexistent-file: No such file or directory

vmstat

Display virtual memory statistics.

bash$ vmstat
procs memory swap io system cpu
r b w swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us sy id
0 0 0 0 11040 2636 38952 0 0 33 7 271 88 8 3 89

netstat

Show current network statistics and information, such as routing tables and active connections. This utility accesses
information in /proc/net (Chapter 28). See Example 28-2.

netstat -r is equivalent to route.

uptime

Shows how long the system has been running, along with associated statistics.

bash$ uptime
10:28pm up 1:57, 3 users, load average: 0.17, 0.34, 0.27

hostname

Lists the system's host name. This command sets the host name in an /etc/rc.d setup script (/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit
or similar). It is equivalent to uname -n, and a counterpart to the $HOSTNAME internal variable.

bash$ hostname
localhost.localdomain

bash$ echo $HOSTNAME

localhost.localdomain

hostid

Echo a 32-bit hexadecimal numerical identifier for the host machine.

bash$ hostid
7f0100

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This command allegedly fetches a "unique" serial number for a particular system. Certain product
registration procedures use this number to brand a particular user license. Unfortunately, hostid only
returns the machine network address in hexadecimal, with pairs of bytes transposed.

The network address of a typical non-networked Linux machine, is found in /etc/hosts.

bash$ cat /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

As it happens, transposing the bytes of 127.0.0.1, we get 0.127.1.0, which translates in hex to
007f0100, the exact equivalent of what hostid returns, above. There exist only a few million other
Linux machines with this identical hostid.
sar

Invoking sar (system activity report) gives a very detailed rundown on system statistics. This command is found on some
commercial UNIX systems, but is not part of the base Linux distribution. It is contained in the sysstat utilities package, written
by Sebastien Godard.

bash$ sar
Linux 2.4.7-10 (localhost.localdomain) 12/31/2001

10:30:01 AM CPU %user %nice %system %idle

10:40:00 AM all 1.39 0.00 0.77 97.84
10:50:00 AM all 76.83 0.00 1.45 21.72
11:00:00 AM all 1.32 0.00 0.69 97.99
11:10:00 AM all 1.17 0.00 0.30 98.53
11:20:00 AM all 0.51 0.00 0.30 99.19
06:30:00 PM all 100.00 0.00 100.01 0.00
Average: all 1.39 0.00 0.66 97.95

System Logs

logger

Appends a user-generated message to the system log (/var/log/messages). You do not have to be root to invoke logger.

logger Experiencing instability in network connection at 23:10, 05/21.

# Now, do a 'tail /var/log/messages'.

By embedding a logger command in a script, it is possible to write debugging information to /var/log/messages.

logger -t $0 -i Logging at line "$LINENO".

# The "-t" option specifies the tag for the logger entry.
# The "-i" option records the process ID.

# tail /var/log/message
# ...
# Jul 7 20:48:58 localhost ./test.sh[1712]: Logging at line 3.

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logrotate

This utility manages the system log files, rotating, compressing, deleting, and/or mailing them, as appropriate. Usually crond
runs logrotate on a daily basis.

Adding an appropriate entry to /etc/logrotate.conf makes it possible to manage personal log files, as well as system-
wide ones.

Job Control

ps

Process Statistics: lists currently executing processes by owner and PID (process id). This is usually invoked with ax options,
and may be piped to grep or sed to search for a specific process (see Example 11-9 and Example 28-1).

bash$ ps ax | grep sendmail

295 ? S 0:00 sendmail: accepting connections on port 25

pstree

Lists currently executing processes in "tree" format. The -p option shows the PIDs, as well as the process names.
top

Continuously updated display of most cpu-intensive processes. The -b option displays in text mode, so that the output may be
parsed or accessed from a script.

bash$ top -b
8:30pm up 3 min, 3 users, load average: 0.49, 0.32, 0.13
45 processes: 44 sleeping, 1 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states: 13.6% user, 7.3% system, 0.0% nice, 78.9% idle
Mem: 78396K av, 65468K used, 12928K free, 0K shrd, 2352K buff
Swap: 157208K av, 0K used, 157208K free 37244K cached

PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM TIME COMMAND
848 bozo 17 0 996 996 800 R 5.6 1.2 0:00 top
1 root 8 0 512 512 444 S 0.0 0.6 0:04 init
2 root 9 0 0 0 0 SW 0.0 0.0 0:00 keventd
...

nice

Run a background job with an altered priority. Priorities run from 19 (lowest) to -20 (highest). Only root may set the negative
(higher) priorities. Related commands are renice, snice, and skill.
nohup

Keeps a command running even after user logs off. The command will run as a foreground process unless followed by &. If
you use nohup within a script, consider coupling it with a wait to avoid creating an orphan or zombie process.
pidof

Identifies process id (pid) of a running job. Since job control commands, such as kill and renice act on the pid of a process (not
its name), it is sometimes necessary to identify that pid. The pidof command is the approximate counterpart to the $PPID
internal variable.

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bash$ pidof xclock

880

Example 13-4. pidof helps kill a process

#!/bin/bash
# kill-process.sh

NOPROCESS=2

process=xxxyyyzzz # Use nonexistent process.

# For demo purposes only...
# ... don't want to actually kill any actual process with this script.
#
# If, for example, you wanted to use this script to logoff the Internet,
# process=pppd

t=`pidof $process` # Find pid (process id) of $process.

# The pid is needed by 'kill' (can't 'kill' by program name).

if [ -z "$t" ] # If process not present, 'pidof' returns null.

then
echo "Process $process was not running."
echo "Nothing killed."
exit $NOPROCESS
fi

kill $t # May need 'kill -9' for stubborn process.

# Need a check here to see if process allowed itself to be killed.

# Perhaps another " t=`pidof $process` ".

# This entire script could be replaced by

# kill $(pidof -x process_name)
# but it would not be as instructive.

exit 0

fuser

Identifies the processes (by pid) that are accessing a given file, set of files, or directory. May also be invoked with the -k
option, which kills those processes. This has interesting implications for system security, especially in scripts preventing
unauthorized users from accessing system services.

crond

Administrative program scheduler, performing such duties as cleaning up and deleting system log files and updating the slocate
database. This is the superuser version of at (although each user may have their own crontab file which can be changed with
the crontab command). It runs as a daemon and executes scheduled entries from /etc/crontab.

Process Control and Booting

init

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The init command is the parent of all processes. Called in the final step of a bootup, init determines the runlevel of the system
from /etc/inittab. Invoked by its alias telinit, and by root only.
telinit

Symlinked to init, this is a means of changing the system runlevel, usually done for system maintenance or emergency
filesystem repairs. Invoked only by root. This command can be dangerous - be certain you understand it well before using!
runlevel

Shows the current and last runlevel, that is, whether the system is halted (runlevel 0), in single-user mode (1), in multi-user
mode (2 or 3), in X Windows (5), or rebooting (6). This command accesses the /var/run/utmp file.
halt, shutdown, reboot

Command set to shut the system down, usually just prior to a power down.

Network

ifconfig

Network interface configuration and tuning utility. It is most often used at bootup to set up the interfaces, or to shut them down
when rebooting.

# Code snippets from /etc/rc.d/init.d/network

# ...

# Check that networking is up.

[ ${NETWORKING} = "no" ] && exit 0

[ -x /sbin/ifconfig ] || exit 0

# ...

for i in $interfaces ; do
if ifconfig $i 2>/dev/null | grep -q "UP" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
action "Shutting down interface $i: " ./ifdown $i boot
fi
# The GNU-specific "-q" option to "grep" means "quiet", i.e., producing no output.
# Redirecting output to /dev/null is therefore not strictly necessary.

# ...

echo "Currently active devices:"

echo `/sbin/ifconfig | grep ^[a-z] | awk '{print $1}'`
# ^^^^^ should be quoted to prevent globbing.
# The following also work.
# echo $(/sbin/ifconfig | awk '/^[a-z]/ { print $1 })'
# echo $(/sbin/ifconfig | sed -e 's/ .*//')
# Thanks, S.C., for additional comments.

See also Example 30-6.

route

Show info about or make changes to the kernel routing table.

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bash$ route
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags MSS Window irtt Iface
pm3-67.bozosisp * 255.255.255.255 UH 40 0 0 ppp0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 40 0 0 lo
default pm3-67.bozosisp 0.0.0.0 UG 40 0 0 ppp0

chkconfig

Check network configuration. This command lists and manages the network services started at bootup in the /etc/rc?.d
directory.

Originally a port from IRIX to Red Hat Linux, chkconfig may not be part of the core installation of some Linux flavors.

bash$ chkconfig --list

atd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off
rwhod 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off
...

tcpdump

Network packet "sniffer". This is a tool for analyzing and troubleshooting traffic on a network by dumping packet headers that
match specified criteria.

Dump ip packet traffic between hosts bozoville and caduceus:

bash$ tcpdump ip host bozoville and caduceus

Of course, the output of tcpdump can be parsed, using certain of the previously discussed text processing utilities.

Filesystem

mount

Mount a filesystem, usually on an external device, such as a floppy or CDROM. The file /etc/fstab provides a handy
listing of available filesystems, partitions, and devices, including options, that may be automatically or manually mounted. The
file /etc/mtab shows the currently mounted filesystems and partitions (including the virtual ones, such as /proc).

mount -a mounts all filesystems and partitions listed in /etc/fstab, except those with a noauto option. At bootup, a
startup script in /etc/rc.d (rc.sysinit or something similar) invokes this to get everything mounted.

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

# Mounts CDROM
mount /mnt/cdrom
# Shortcut, if /mnt/cdrom listed in /etc/fstab

This versatile command can even mount an ordinary file on a block device, and the file will act as if it were a filesystem.

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Mount accomplishes that by associating the file with a loopback device. One application of this is to mount and examine an
ISO9660 image before burning it onto a CDR. [3]

Example 13-5. Checking a CD image

# As root...

mkdir /mnt/cdtest # Prepare a mount point, if not already there.

mount -r -t iso9660 -o loop cd-image.iso /mnt/cdtest # Mount the image.

# "-o loop" option equivalent to "losetup /dev/loop0"
cd /mnt/cdtest # Now, check the image.
ls -alR # List the files in the directory tree there.
# And so forth.

umount

Unmount a currently mounted filesystem. Before physically removing a previously mounted floppy or CDROM disk, the
device must be umounted, else filesystem corruption may result.

umount /mnt/cdrom
# You may now press the eject button and safely remove the disk.

The automount utility, if properly installed, can mount and unmount floppies or CDROM disks as they
are accessed or removed. On laptops with swappable floppy and CDROM drives, this can cause problems,
though.
sync

Forces an immediate write of all updated data from buffers to hard drive (synchronize drive with buffers). While not strictly
necessary, a sync assures the sys admin or user that the data just changed will survive a sudden power failure. In the olden
days, a sync; sync (twice, just to make absolutely sure) was a useful precautionary measure before a system reboot.

At times, you may wish to force an immediate buffer flush, as when securely deleting a file (see Example 12-41) or when the
lights begin to flicker.
losetup

Sets up and configures loopback devices.

Example 13-6. Creating a filesystem in a file

SIZE=1000000 # 1 meg

head -c $SIZE < /dev/zero > file # Set up file of designated size.
losetup /dev/loop0 file # Set it up as loopback device.
mke2fs /dev/loop0 # Create filesystem.
mount -o loop /dev/loop0 /mnt # Mount it.

# Thanks, S.C.

mkswap

Creates a swap partition or file. The swap area must subsequently be enabled with swapon.

swapon, swapoff

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Enable / disable swap partitition or file. These commands usually take effect at bootup and shutdown.

mke2fs

Create a Linux ext2 filesystem. This command must be invoked as root.

Example 13-7. Adding a new hard drive

#!/bin/bash

# Adding a second hard drive to system.

# Software configuration. Assumes hardware already mounted.
# From an article by the author of this document.
# in issue #38 of "Linux Gazette", http://www.linuxgazette.com.

ROOT_UID=0 # This script must be run as root.

E_NOTROOT=67 # Non-root exit error.

if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]

then
echo "Must be root to run this script."
exit $E_NOTROOT
fi

# Use with extreme caution!

# If something goes wrong, you may wipe out your current filesystem.

NEWDISK=/dev/hdb # Assumes /dev/hdb vacant. Check!

MOUNTPOINT=/mnt/newdisk # Or choose another mount point.

fdisk $NEWDISK
mke2fs -cv $NEWDISK1 # Check for bad blocks & verbose output.
# Note: /dev/hdb1, *not* /dev/hdb!
mkdir $MOUNTPOINT
chmod 777 $MOUNTPOINT # Makes new drive accessible to all users.

# Now, test...
# mount -t ext2 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/newdisk
# Try creating a directory.
# If it works, umount it, and proceed.

# Final step:
# Add the following line to /etc/fstab.
# /dev/hdb1 /mnt/newdisk ext2 defaults 1 1

exit 0

See also Example 13-6 and Example 29-3.

tune2fs

Tune ext2 filesystem. May be used to change filesystem parameters, such as maximum mount count. This must be invoked as
root.

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This is an extremely dangerous command. Use it at your own risk, as you may inadvertently destroy your
filesystem.
dumpe2fs

Dump (list to stdout) very verbose filesystem info. This must be invoked as root.

root# dumpe2fs /dev/hda7 | grep 'ount count'

dumpe2fs 1.19, 13-Jul-2000 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09
Mount count: 6
Maximum mount count: 20

hdparm

List or change hard disk parameters. This command must be invoked as root, and it may be dangerous if misused.
fdisk

Create or change a partition table on a storage device, usually a hard drive. This command must be invoked as root.

Use this command with extreme caution. If something goes wrong, you may destroy an existing filesystem.
fsck, e2fsck, debugfs

Filesystem check, repair, and debug command set.

fsck: a front end for checking a UNIX filesystem (may invoke other utilities). The actual filesystem type generally defaults to
ext2.

e2fsck: ext2 filesystem checker.

debugfs: ext2 filesystem debugger. One of the uses of this versatile, but dangerous command is to (attempt to) recover deleted
files. For advanced users only!

All of these should be invoked as root, and they can damage or destroy a filesystem if misused.
badblocks

Checks for bad blocks (physical media flaws) on a storage device. This command finds use when formatting a newly installed
hard drive or testing the integrity of backup media. [4] As an example, badblocks /dev/fd0 tests a floppy disk.

The badblocks command may be invoked destructively (overwrite all data) or in non-destructive read-only mode. If root user
owns the device to be tested, as is generally the case, then root must invoke this command.
mkbootdisk

Creates a boot floppy which can be used to bring up the system if, for example, the MBR (master boot record) becomes
corrupted. The mkbootdisk command is actually a Bash script, written by Erik Troan, in the /sbin directory.
chroot

CHange ROOT directory. Normally commands are fetched from $PATH, relative to /, the default root directory. This changes
the root directory to a different one (and also changes the working directory to there). This is useful for security purposes, for
instance when the system administrator wishes to restrict certain users, such as those telnetting in, to a secured portion of the
filesystem (this is sometimes referred to as confining a guest user to a "chroot jail"). Note that after a chroot, the execution
path for system binaries is no longer valid.

A chroot /opt would cause references to /usr/bin to be translated to /opt/usr/bin. Likewise, chroot

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/aaa/bbb /bin/ls would redirect future instances of ls to /aaa/bbb as the base directory, rather than / as is normally
the case. An alias XX 'chroot /aaa/bbb ls' in a user's ~/.bashrc effectively restricts which portion of the filesystem she
may run command "XX" on.

The chroot command is also handy when running from an emergency boot floppy (chroot to /dev/fd0), or as an option to
lilo when recovering from a system crash. Other uses include installation from a different filesystem (an rpm option) or
running a readonly filesystem from a CD ROM. Invoke only as root, and use with care.

It might be necessary to copy certain system files to a chrooted directory, since the normal $PATH can no longer
be relied upon.
lockfile

This utility is part of the procmail package (www.procmail.org). It creates a lock file, a semaphore file that controls access to a
file, device, or resource. The lock file serves as a flag that this particular file, device, or resource is in use by a particular
process ("busy"), and this permits only restricted access (or no access) to other processes.

Lock files are used in such applications as protecting system mail folders from simultaneously being changed by multiple
users, indicating that a modem port is being accessed, and showing that an instance of Netscape is using its cache. Scripts may
check for the existence of a lock file created by a certain process to check if that process is running. Note that if a script
attempts create a lock file that already exists, the script will likely hang.

Normally, applications create and check for lock files in the /var/lock directory. A script can test for the presence of a lock
file by something like the following.

appname=xyzip
# Application "xyzip" created lock file "/var/lock/xyzip.lock".

if [ -e "/var/lock/$appname.lock ]
then
...

mknod

Creates block or character device files (may be necessary when installing new hardware on the system).
tmpwatch

Automatically deletes files which have not been accessed within a specified period of time. Usually invoked by crond to
remove stale log files.
MAKEDEV

Utility for creating device files. It must be run as root, and in the /dev directory.

root# ./MAKEDEV

This is a sort of advanced version of mknod.

Backup

dump, restore

The dump command is an elaborate filesystem backup utility, generally used on larger installations and networks. [5] It reads
raw disk partitions and writes a backup file in a binary format. Files to be backed up may be saved to a variety of storage
media, including disks and tape drives. The restore command restores backups made with dump.

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fdformat

Perform a low-level format on a floppy disk.

System Resources

ulimit

Sets an upper limit on system resources. Usually invoked with the -f option, which sets a limit on file size (ulimit -f 1000
limits files to 1 meg maximum). The -t option limits the coredump size (ulimit -c 0 eliminates coredumps). Normally, the
value of ulimit would be set in /etc/profile and/or ~/.bash_profile (see Chapter 27).
umask

User file creation MASK. Limit the default file attributes for a particular user. All files created by that user take on the
attributes specified by umask. The (octal) value passed to umask defines the file permissions disabled. For example, umask
022 ensures that new files will have at most 755 permissions (777 NAND 022). [6] Of course, the user may later change the
attributes of particular files with chmod. The usual practice is to set the value of umask in /etc/profile and/or
~/.bash_profile (see Chapter 27).
rdev

Get info about or make changes to root device, swap space, or video mode. The functionality of rdev has generally been taken
over by lilo, but rdev remains useful for setting up a ram disk. This is another dangerous command, if misused.

Modules

lsmod

List installed kernel modules.

bash$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
autofs 9456 2 (autoclean)
opl3 11376 0
serial_cs 5456 0 (unused)
sb 34752 0
uart401 6384 0 [sb]
sound 58368 0 [opl3 sb uart401]
soundlow 464 0 [sound]
soundcore 2800 6 [sb sound]
ds 6448 2 [serial_cs]
i82365 22928 2
pcmcia_core 45984 0 [serial_cs ds i82365]

insmod

Force installation of a kernel module. Must be invoked as root.

rmmod

Force unloading of a kernel module. Must be invoked as root.

modprobe

Module loader that is normally invoked automatically in a startup script.

depmod

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Creates module dependency file, usually invoked from startup script.

Miscellaneous

env

Runs a program or script with certain environmental variables set or changed (without changing the overall system
environment). The [varname=xxx] permits changing the environmental variable varname for the duration of the script.
With no options specified, this command lists all the environmental variable settings.

In Bash and other Bourne shell derivatives, it is possible to set variables in a single command's environment.

var1=value1 var2=value2 commandXXX

# $var1 and $var2 set in the environment of 'commandXXX' only.

The first line of a script (the "sha-bang" line) may use env when the path to the shell or interpreter is unknown.

#! /usr/bin/env perl

print "This Perl script will run,\n";

print "even when I don't know where to find Perl.\n";

# Good for portable cross-platform scripts,

# where the Perl binaries may not be in the expected place.
# Thanks, S.C.

ldd

Show shared lib dependencies for an executable file.

bash$ ldd /bin/ls

libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4000c000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x80000000)

strip

Remove the debugging symbolic references from an executable binary. This decreases its size, but makes debugging of it
impossible.

This command often occurs in a Makefile, but rarely in a shell script.

nm

List symbols in an unstripped compiled binary.

rdist

Remote distribution client: synchronizes, clones, or backs up a file system on a remote server.

Using our knowledge of administrative commands, let us examine a system script. One of the shortest and simplest to understand
scripts is killall, used to suspend running processes at system shutdown.

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Example 13-8. killall, from /etc/rc.d/init.d

#!/bin/sh

# --> Comments added by the author of this document marked by "# -->".

# --> This is part of the 'rc' script package

# --> by Miquel van Smoorenburg, <[email protected]>

# --> This particular script seems to be Red Hat specific

# --> (may not be present in other distributions).

# Bring down all unneeded services that are still running (there shouldn't
# be any, so this is just a sanity check)

for i in /var/lock/subsys/*; do
# --> Standard for/in loop, but since "do" is on same line,
# --> it is necessary to add ";".
# Check if the script is there.
[ ! -f $i ] && continue
# --> This is a clever use of an "and list", equivalent to:
# --> if [ ! -f "$i" ]; then continue

# Get the subsystem name.

subsys=${i#/var/lock/subsys/}
# --> Match variable name, which, in this case, is the file name.
# --> This is the exact equivalent of subsys=`basename $i`.

# --> It gets it from the lock file name, and since if there
# --> is a lock file, that's proof the process has been running.
# --> See the "lockfile" entry, above.

# Bring the subsystem down.

if [ -f /etc/rc.d/init.d/$subsys.init ]; then
/etc/rc.d/init.d/$subsys.init stop
else
/etc/rc.d/init.d/$subsys stop
# --> Suspend running jobs and daemons
# --> using the 'stop' shell builtin.
fi
done

That wasn't so bad. Aside from a little fancy footwork with variable matching, there is no new material there.

Exercise 1. In /etc/rc.d/init.d, analyze the halt script. It is a bit longer than killall, but similar in concept. Make a copy of
this script somewhere in your home directory and experiment with it (do not run it as root). Do a simulated run with the -vn flags (sh
-vn scriptname). Add extensive comments. Change the "action" commands to "echos".

Exercise 2. Look at some of the more complex scripts in /etc/rc.d/init.d. See if you can understand parts of them. Follow the
above procedure to analyze them. For some additional insight, you might also examine the file sysvinitfiles in
/usr/share/doc/initscripts-?.??, which is part of the "initscripts" documentation.

Notes

[1] This is the case on a Linux machine or a UNIX system with disk quotas.

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[2] The userdel command will fail if the particular user being deleted is still logged on.
[3] For more detail on burning CDRs, see Alex Withers' article, Creating CDs, in the October, 1999 issue of Linux Journal.
[4] The -c option to mke2fs also invokes a check for bad blocks.
[5] Operators of single-user Linux systems generally prefer something simpler for backups, such as tar.
[6] NAND is the logical "not-and" operator. Its effect is somewhat similar to subtraction.

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Miscellaneous Commands Up Command Substitution

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Arithmetic Expansion

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 15. Arithmetic Expansion

Arithmetic expansion provides a powerful tool for performing arithmetic operations in scripts. Translating a
string into a numerical expression is relatively straightforward using backticks, double parentheses, or let.

Variations

Arithmetic expansion with backticks (often used in conjunction with expr)

z=`expr $z + 3` # 'expr' does the expansion.

Arithmetic expansion with double parentheses, and using let

The use of backticks in arithmetic expansion has been superseded by double parentheses $((...)) or
the very convenient let construction.

z=$(($z+3))
# $((EXPRESSION)) is arithmetic expansion. # Not to be confused with
# command substitution.

let z=z+3
let "z += 3" #If quotes, then spaces and special operators allowed.
# 'let' is actually arithmetic evaluation, rather than expansion.

All the above are equivalent. You may use whichever one "rings your chimes".

Examples of arithmetic expansion in scripts:

1. Example 12-6
2. Example 10-14
3. Example 26-1
4. Example 26-4
5. Example A-17

Prev Home Next

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Here Documents

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 17. Here Documents

A here document uses a special form of I/O redirection to feed a command list to an interactive program or command, such as
ftp, telnet, or ex. A "limit string" delineates (frames) the command list. The special symbol << designates the limit string. This
has the effect of redirecting the output of a file into the program, similar to interactive-program < command-file,
where command-file contains

command #1
command #2
...

The "here document" alternative looks like this:

#!/bin/bash
interactive-program <<LimitString
command #1
command #2
...
LimitString

Choose a limit string sufficiently unusual that it will not occur anywhere in the command list and confuse matters.

Note that here documents may sometimes be used to good effect with non-interactive utilities and commands.

Example 17-1. dummyfile: Creates a 2-line dummy file

#!/bin/bash

# Non-interactive use of 'vi' to edit a file.

# Emulates 'sed'.

E_BADARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

TARGETFILE=$1

# Insert 2 lines in file, then save.

#--------Begin here document-----------#
vi $TARGETFILE <<x23LimitStringx23
i
This is line 1 of the example file.

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Here Documents

This is line 2 of the example file.

^[
ZZ
x23LimitStringx23
#----------End here document-----------#

# Note that ^[ above is a literal escape

#+ typed by Control-V <Esc>.

# Bram Moolenaar points out that this may not work with 'vim',
#+ because of possible problems with terminal interaction.

exit 0

The above script could just as effectively have been implemented with ex, rather than vi. Here documents containing a list of
ex commands are common enough to form their own category, known as ex scripts.

Example 17-2. broadcast: Sends message to everyone logged in

#!/bin/bash

wall <<zzz23EndOfMessagezzz23
E-mail your noontime orders for pizza to the system administrator.
(Add an extra dollar for anchovy or mushroom topping.)
# Additional message text goes here.
# Note: Comment lines printed by 'wall'.
zzz23EndOfMessagezzz23

# Could have been done more efficiently by

# wall <message-file
# However, saving a message template in a script saves work.

exit 0

Example 17-3. Multi-line message using cat

#!/bin/bash

# 'echo' is fine for printing single line messages,

# but somewhat problematic for for message blocks.
# A 'cat' here document overcomes this limitation.

cat <<End-of-message
-------------------------------------
This is line 1 of the message.
This is line 2 of the message.
This is line 3 of the message.
This is line 4 of the message.
This is the last line of the message.
-------------------------------------
End-of-message

exit 0

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Here Documents

#--------------------------------------------
# Code below disabled, due to "exit 0" above.

# S.C. points out that the following also works.

echo "-------------------------------------
This is line 1 of the message.
This is line 2 of the message.
This is line 3 of the message.
This is line 4 of the message.
This is the last line of the message.
-------------------------------------"
# However, text may not include double quotes unless they are escaped.

The - option to mark a here document limit string (<<-LimitString) suppresses tabs (but not spaces) in the output. This
may be useful in making a script more readable.

Example 17-4. Multi-line message, with tabs suppressed

#!/bin/bash
# Same as previous example, but...

# The - option to a here document <<-

# suppresses tabs in the body of the document, but *not* spaces.

cat <<-ENDOFMESSAGE
This is line 1 of the message.
This is line 2 of the message.
This is line 3 of the message.
This is line 4 of the message.
This is the last line of the message.
ENDOFMESSAGE
# The output of the script will be flush left.
# Leading tab in each line will not show.

# Above 5 lines of "message" prefaced by a tab, not spaces.

# Spaces not affected by <<- .

exit 0

A here document supports parameter and command substitution. It is therefore possible to pass different parameters to the
body of the here document, changing its output accordingly.

Example 17-5. Here document with parameter substitution

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Here Documents

#!/bin/bash
# Another 'cat' here document, using parameter substitution.

# Try it with no command line parameters, ./scriptname

# Try it with one command line parameter, ./scriptname Mortimer
# Try it with one two-word quoted command line parameter,
# ./scriptname "Mortimer Jones"

CMDLINEPARAM=1 # Expect at least command line parameter.

if [ $# -ge $CMDLINEPARAM ]
then
NAME=$1 # If more than one command line param,
# then just take the first.
else
NAME="John Doe" # Default, if no command line parameter.
fi

RESPONDENT="the author of this fine script"

cat <<Endofmessage

Hello, there, $NAME.

Greetings to you, $NAME, from $RESPONDENT.

# This comment shows up in the output (why?).

Endofmessage

# Note that the blank lines show up in the output.

# So does the "comment".

exit 0

Quoting or escaping the "limit string" at the head of a here document disables parameter substitution within its body. This has
very limited usefulness.

Example 17-6. Parameter substitution turned off

#!/bin/bash
# A 'cat' here document, but with parameter substitution disabled.

NAME="John Doe"
RESPONDENT="the author of this fine script"

cat <<'Endofmessage'

Hello, there, $NAME.

Greetings to you, $NAME, from $RESPONDENT.

Endofmessage

# No parameter substitution when the "limit string" is quoted or escaped.

# Either of the following at the head of the here document would have the same

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Here Documents

effect.
# cat <<"Endofmessage"
# cat <<\Endofmessage

exit 0

This is a useful script containing a here document with parameter substitution.

Example 17-7. upload: Uploads a file pair to "Sunsite" incoming directory

#!/bin/bash
# upload.sh

# Upload file pair (Filename.lsm, Filename.tar.gz)

# to incoming directory at Sunsite (metalab.unc.edu).

E_ARGERROR=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_ARGERROR
fi

Filename=`basename $1` # Strips pathname out of file name.

Server="metalab.unc.edu"
Directory="/incoming/Linux"
# These need not be hard-coded into script,
# but may instead be changed to command line argument.

Password="your.e-mail.address" # Change above to suit.

ftp -n $Server <<End-Of-Session

# -n option disables auto-logon

user anonymous "$Password"

binary
bell # Ring 'bell' after each file transfer
cd $Directory
put "$Filename.lsm"
put "$Filename.tar.gz"
bye
End-Of-Session

exit 0

A here document can supply input to a function in the same script.

Example 17-8. Here documents and functions

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Here Documents

#!/bin/bash
# here-function.sh

GetPersonalData ()
{
read firstname
read lastname
read address
read city
read state
read zipcode
} # This certainly looks like an interactive function, but...

# Supply input to the above function.

GetPersonalData <<RECORD001
Bozo
Bozeman
2726 Nondescript Dr.
Baltimore
MD
21226
RECORD001

echo
echo "$firstname $lastname"
echo "$address"
echo "$city, $state $zipcode"
echo

exit 0

It is possible to use : as a dummy command accepting output from a here document. This, in effect, creates an "anonymous"
here document.

Example 17-9. "Anonymous" Here Document

#!/bin/bash

: <<TESTVARIABLES
${HOSTNAME?}${USER?}${MAIL?} # Print error message if one of the variables not set.
TESTVARIABLES

exit 0

A variation of the above technique permits "commenting out" blocks of code.

Example 17-10. Commenting out a block of code

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Here Documents

#!/bin/bash
# commentblock.sh

: << COMMENTBLOCK
echo "This line will not echo."
This is a comment line missing the "#" prefix.
This is another comment line missing the "#" prefix.

&*@!!++=
The above line will cause no error message,
because the Bash interpreter will ignore it.
COMMENTBLOCK

echo "Exit value of above \"COMMENTBLOCK\" is $?." # 0

# No error shown.

# The above technique also comes in useful for commenting out

#+ a block of working code for debugging purposes.
# This saves having to put a "#" at the beginning of each line,
#+ then having to go back and delete each "#" later.

: << DEBUGXXX
for file in *
do
cat "$file"
done
DEBUGXXX

exit 0

Yet another twist of this nifty trick makes "self-documenting" scripts possible.

Example 17-11. A self-documenting script

#!/bin/bash
# self-document.sh: self-documenting script
# Modification of "colm.sh".

DOC_REQUEST=70

if [ "$1" = "-h" -o "$1" = "--help" ] # Request help.

then
echo; echo "Usage: $0 [directory-name]"; echo
cat "$0" | sed --silent -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX$/,/^DOCUMENTATION/p' |
sed -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX/d'; exit $DOC_REQUEST; fi

: << DOCUMENTATIONXX
List the statistics of a specified directory in tabular format.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The command line parameter gives the directory to be listed.
If no directory specified or directory specified cannot be read,
then list the current working directory.

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Here Documents

DOCUMENTATIONXX

if [ -z "$1" -o ! -r "$1" ]
then
directory=.
else
directory="$1"
fi

echo "Listing of "$directory":"; echo

(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \
; ls -l "$directory" | sed 1d) | column -t

exit 0

Here documents create temporary files, but these files are deleted after opening and are not accessible to any other
process.

bash$ bash -c 'lsof -a -p $$ -d0' << EOF

> EOF
lsof 1213 bozo 0r REG 3,5 0 30386 /tmp/t1213-0-sh (deleted)

Some utilities will not work inside a here document.

For those tasks too complex for a "here document", consider using the expect scripting language, which is specifically tailored
for feeding input into interactive programs.

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Applications Up Recess Time

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Recess Time

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 18. Recess Time

This bizarre little intermission gives the reader a chance to
relax and maybe laugh a bit.

Fellow Linux user, greetings! You are reading something

which will bring you luck and good fortune. Just e-mail a
copy of this document to 10 of your friends. Before you make
the copies, send a 100-line Bash script to the first person
on the list given at the bottom of this letter. Then delete
their name and add yours to the bottom of the list.

Don't break the chain! Make the copies within 48 hours.

Wilfred P. of Brooklyn failed to send out his ten copies and
woke the next morning to find his job description changed
to "COBOL programmer." Howard L. of Newport News sent
out his ten copies and within a month had enough hardware
to build a 100-node Beowulf cluster dedicated to playing
xbill. Amelia V. of Chicago laughed at this letter and
broke the chain. Shortly thereafter, a fire broke out in her
terminal and she now spends her days writing documentation
for MS Windows.

Don't break the chain! Send out your ten copies today!

Courtesy 'NIX "fortune cookies", with some alterations and many apologies

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Restricted Shells

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 21. Restricted Shells

Disabled commands in restricted shells

Running a script or portion of a script in restricted mode disables certain commands that would
otherwise be available. This is a security measure intended to limit the privileges of the script
user and to minimize possible damage from running the script.

Using cd to change the working directory.

Changing the values of the $PATH, $SHELL, $BASH_ENV, or $ENV environmental

variables.

Reading or changing the $SHELLOPTS, shell environmental options.

Output redirection.

Invoking commands containing one or more /'s.

Invoking exec to substitute a different process for the shell.

Various other commands that would enable monkeying with or attempting to subvert the
script for an unintended purpose.

Getting out of restricted mode within the script.

Example 21-1. Running a script in restricted mode

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Restricted Shells

#!/bin/bash
# Starting the script with "#!/bin/bash -r"
# runs entire script in restricted mode.

echo

echo "Changing directory."

cd /usr/local
echo "Now in `pwd`"
echo "Coming back home."
cd
echo "Now in `pwd`"
echo

# Everything up to here in normal, unrestricted mode.

set -r
# set --restricted has same effect.
echo "==> Now in restricted mode. <=="

echo
echo

echo "Attempting directory change in restricted mode."

cd ..
echo "Still in `pwd`"

echo
echo

echo "\$SHELL = $SHELL"

echo "Attempting to change shell in restricted mode."
SHELL="/bin/ash"
echo
echo "\$SHELL= $SHELL"

echo
echo

echo "Attempting to redirect output in restricted mode."

ls -l /usr/bin > bin.files
ls -l bin.files # Try to list attempted file creation effort.

echo

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Restricted Shells

exit 0

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Process Substitution

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 22. Process Substitution

Process substitution is the counterpart to command substitution. Command substitution sets a variable to
the result of a command, as in dir_contents=`ls -al` or xref=$( grep word datafile). Process substitution feeds the
output of a process to another process (in other words, it sends the results of a command to another command).

Command substitution template

command within parentheses

>(command)

<(command)

These initiate process substitution. This uses /dev/fd/<n> files to send the results of the process within
parentheses to another process. [1]

There is no space between the the "<" or ">" and the parentheses. Space there would give an
error message.

bash$ echo >(true)

/dev/fd/63

bash$ echo <(true)

/dev/fd/63

Bash creates a pipe with two file descriptors, --fIn and fOut--. The stdin of true connects to fOut
(dup2(fOut, 0)), then Bash passes a /dev/fd/fIn argument to echo. On systems lacking /dev/fd/<n> files,
Bash may use temporary files. (Thanks, S.C.)

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Process Substitution

cat <(ls -l)

# Same as ls -l | cat

sort -k 9 <(ls -l /bin) <(ls -l /usr/bin) <(ls -l /usr/X11R6/bin)

# Lists all the files in the 3 main 'bin' directories, and sorts by filename.
# Note that three (count 'em) distinct commands are fed to 'sort'.

diff <(command1) <(command2) # Gives difference in command output.

tar cf >(bzip2 -c > file.tar.bz2) $directory_name

# Calls "tar cf /dev/fd/?? $directory_name", and "bzip2 -c > file.tar.bz2".
#
# Because of the /dev/fd/<n> system feature,
# the pipe between both commands does not need to be named.
#
# This can be emulated.
#
bzip2 -c < pipe > file.tar.bz2&
tar cf pipe $directory_name
rm pipe
# or
exec 3>&1
tar cf /dev/fd/4 $directory_name 4>&1 >&3 3>&- | bzip2 -c > file.tar.bz2 3>&-
exec 3>&-

# Thanks, S.C.

A reader of this document sent in the following interesting example of process substitution.

# Script fragment taken from SuSE distribution:

while read des what mask iface; do

# Some commands ...
done < <(route -n)

# To test it, let's make it do something.

while read des what mask iface; do
echo $des $what $mask $iface
done < <(route -n)

# Output:
# Kernel IP routing table
# Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
# 127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo

# As S.C. points out, an easier-to-understand equivalent is:

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Process Substitution

route -n |
while read des what mask iface; do # Variables set from output of pipe.
echo $des $what $mask $iface
done # Same output as above.

Notes

[1] This has the same effect as a named pipe (temp file), and, in fact, named pipes were at one time used in
process substitution.

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Functions

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 23. Functions

Table of Contents
23.1. Complex Functions and Function Complexities
23.2. Local Variables

Like "real" programming languages, Bash has functions, though in a somewhat limited implementation. A function is a
subroutine, a code block that implements a set of operations, a "black box" that performs a specified task. Wherever there is
repetitive code, when a task repeats with only slight variations, then consider using a function.

function function_name {
command...
}

or

function_name () {
command...
}

This second form will cheer the hearts of C programmers (and is more portable).

As in C, the function's opening bracket may optionally appear on the second line.

function_name ()
{
command...
}

Functions are called, triggered, simply by invoking their names.

Example 23-1. Simple function

#!/bin/bash

funky ()
{
echo "This is a funky function."
echo "Now exiting funky function."
} # Function declaration must precede call.

# Now, call the function.

funky

exit 0

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Functions

The function definition must precede the first call to it. There is no method of "declaring" the function, as, for example, in C.

# f1
# Will give an error message, since function "f1" not yet defined.

# However...

f1 ()
{
echo "Calling function \"f2\" from within function \"f1\"."
f2
}

f2 ()
{
echo "Function \"f2\"."
}

f1 # Function "f2" is not actually called until this point,

# although it is referenced before its definition.
# This is permissable.

# Thanks, S.C.

It is even possible to nest a function within another function, although this is not very useful.

f1 ()
{

f2 () # nested
{
echo "Function \"f2\", inside \"f1\"."
}

# f2
# Gives an error message.

f1 # Does nothing, since calling "f1" does not automatically call "f2".
f2 # Now, it's all right to call "f2",
# since its definition has been made visible by calling "f1".

# Thanks, S.C.

Function declarations can appear in unlikely places, even where a command would otherwise go.

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Functions

ls -l | foo() { echo "foo"; } # Permissable, but useless.

if [ "$USER" = bozo ]
then
bozo_greet () # Function definition embedded in an if/then construct.
{
echo "Hello, Bozo."
}
fi

bozo_greet # Works only for Bozo, and other users get an error.

# Something like this might be useful in some contexts.

NO_EXIT=1 # Will enable function definition below.

[[ $NO_EXIT -eq 1 ]] && exit() { true; } # Function definition in an "and-list".

# If $NO_EXIT is 1, declares "exit ()".
# This disables the "exit" builtin by aliasing it to "true".

exit # Invokes "exit ()" function, not "exit" builtin.

# Thanks, S.C.

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Complexities

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List Constructs

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 25. List Constructs

The "and list" and "or list" constructs provide a means of processing a number of commands consecutively. These can effectively
replace complex nested if/then or even case statements.

Chaining together commands

and list

command-1 && command-2 && command-3 && ... command-n

Each command executes in turn provided that the previous command has given a return value of true (zero). At the first false
(non-zero) return, the command chain terminates (the first command returning false is the last one to execute).

Example 25-1. Using an "and list" to test for command-line arguments

#!/bin/bash
# "and list"

if [ ! -z "$1" ] && echo "Argument #1 = $1" && [ ! -z "$2" ] && echo "Argument #2 =
$2"
then
echo "At least 2 arguments passed to script."
# All the chained commands return true.
else
echo "Less than 2 arguments passed to script."
# At least one of the chained commands returns false.
fi
# Note that "if [ ! -z $1 ]" works, but its supposed equivalent,
# if [ -n $1 ] does not. However, quoting fixes this.
# if [ -n "$1" ] works. Careful!
# It is best to always quote tested variables.

# This accomplishes the same thing, using "pure" if/then statements.

if [ ! -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Argument #1 = $1"
fi
if [ ! -z "$2" ]
then
echo "Argument #2 = $2"
echo "At least 2 arguments passed to script."
else
echo "Less than 2 arguments passed to script."
fi
# It's longer and less elegant than using an "and list".

exit 0

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List Constructs

Example 25-2. Another command-line arg test using an "and list"

#!/bin/bash

ARGS=1 # Number of arguments expected.

E_BADARGS=65 # Exit value if incorrect number of args passed.

test $# -ne $ARGS && echo "Usage: `basename $0` $ARGS argument(s)" && exit $E_BADARGS
# If condition-1 true (wrong number of args passed to script),
# then the rest of the line executes, and script terminates.

# Line below executes only if the above test fails.

echo "Correct number of arguments passed to this script."

exit 0

# To check exit value, do a "echo $?" after script termination.

or list

command-1 || command-2 || command-3 || ... command-n

Each command executes in turn for as long as the previous command returns false. At the first true return, the command
chain terminates (the first command returning true is the last one to execute). This is obviously the inverse of the "and list".

Example 25-3. Using "or lists" in combination with an "and list"

#!/bin/bash

# delete.sh, not-so-cunning file deletion utility.

# Usage: delete filename

E_BADARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS # No arg? Bail out.
else
file=$1 # Set filename.
fi

[ ! -f "$file" ] && echo "File \"$file\" not found. \

Cowardly refusing to delete a nonexistent file."
# AND LIST, to give error message if file not present.
# Note echo message continued on to a second line with an escape.

[ ! -f "$file" ] || (rm -f $file; echo "File \"$file\" deleted.")

# OR LIST, to delete file if present.
# ( command1 ; command2 ) is, in effect, an AND LIST variant.

# Note logic inversion above.

# AND LIST executes on true, OR LIST on false.

exit 0

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List Constructs

If the first command in an "or list" returns true, it will execute.

The exit status of an and list or an or list is the exit status of the last command executed.

Clever combinations of "and" and "or" lists are possible, but the logic may easily become convoluted and require extensive
debugging.

false && true || echo false # false

# Same result as
( false && true ) || echo false # false
# But *not*
false && ( true || echo false ) # (nothing echoed)

# Note left-to-right grouping and evaluation of statements,

# since the logic operators "&&" and "||" have equal precedence.

# It's best to avoid such complexities, unless you know what you're doing.

# Thanks, S.C.

See Example A-8 for an illustration of using an and / or list to test variables.

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/dev and /proc

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 28. /dev and /proc

Table of Contents
28.1. /dev
28.2. /proc

A Linux or UNIX machine typically has two special-purpose directories, /dev and /proc.

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Files Up /dev

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Of Zeros and Nulls

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 29. Of Zeros and Nulls

/dev/zero and /dev/null

Uses of /dev/null

Think of /dev/null as a "black hole". It is the nearest equivalent to a write-only file. Everything written to it
disappears forever. Attempts to read or output from it result in nothing. Nevertheless, /dev/null can be quite
useful from both the command line and in scripts.

Suppressing stdout.

cat $filename >/dev/null

# Contents of the file will not list to stdout.

Suppressing stderr (from Example 12-2).

rm $badname 2>/dev/null
# So error messages [stderr] deep-sixed.

Suppressing output from both stdout and stderr.

cat $filename 2>/dev/null >/dev/null

# If "$filename" does not exist, there will be no error message output.
# If "$filename" does exist, the contents of the file will not list to stdout.
# Therefore, no output at all will result from the above line of code.
#
# This can be useful in situations where the return code from a command
#+ needs to be tested, but no output is desired.
#
# cat $filename &>/dev/null
# also works, as Baris Cicek points out.

Deleting contents of a file, but preserving the file itself, with all attendant permissions (from Example 2-1 and
Example 2-2):

cat /dev/null > /var/log/messages

# : > /var/log/messages has same effect, but does not spawn a new process.

cat /dev/null > /var/log/wtmp

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Of Zeros and Nulls

Automatically emptying the contents of a logfile (especially good for dealing with those nasty "cookies" sent by Web
commercial sites):

Example 29-1. Hiding the cookie jar

if [ -f ~/.netscape/cookies ] # Remove, if exists.

then
rm -f ~/.netscape/cookies
fi

ln -s /dev/null ~/.netscape/cookies
# All cookies now get sent to a black hole, rather than saved to disk.

Uses of /dev/zero

Like /dev/null, /dev/zero is a pseudo file, but it actually contains nulls (numerical zeros, not the ASCII kind).
Output written to it disappears, and it is fairly difficult to actually read the nulls in /dev/zero, though it can be
done with od or a hex editor. The chief use for /dev/zero is in creating an initialized dummy file of specified
length intended as a temporary swap file.

Example 29-2. Setting up a swapfile using /dev/zero

#!/bin/bash

# Creating a swapfile.
# This script must be run as root.

ROOT_UID=0 # Root has $UID 0.

E_WRONG_USER=65 # Not root?

FILE=/swap
BLOCKSIZE=1024
MINBLOCKS=40
SUCCESS=0

if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]

then
echo; echo "You must be root to run this script."; echo
exit $E_WRONG_USER
fi

if [ -n "$1" ]
then
blocks=$1
else
blocks=$MINBLOCKS # Set to default of 40 blocks
fi # if nothing specified on command line.

if [ "$blocks" -lt $MINBLOCKS ]

then
blocks=$MINBLOCKS # Must be at least 40 blocks long.
fi

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Of Zeros and Nulls

echo "Creating swap file of size $blocks blocks (KB)."

dd if=/dev/zero of=$FILE bs=$BLOCKSIZE count=$blocks # Zero out file.

mkswap $FILE $blocks # Designate it a swap file.

swapon $FILE # Activate swap file.

echo "Swap file created and activated."

exit $SUCCESS

Another application of /dev/zero is to "zero out" a file of a designated size for a special purpose, such as mounting a
filesystem on a loopback device (see Example 13-6) or securely deleting a file (see Example 12-41).

Example 29-3. Creating a ramdisk

#!/bin/bash
# ramdisk.sh

# A "ramdisk" is a segment of system RAM memory

#+ that acts as if it were a filesystem.
# Its advantage is very fast access (read/write time).
# Disadvantages: volatility, loss of data on reboot or powerdown.
# less RAM available to system.
#
# What good is a ramdisk?
# Keeping a large dataset, such as a table or dictionary on ramdisk
#+ speeds up data lookup, since memory access is much faster than disk access.

E_NON_ROOT_USER=70 # Must run as root.

ROOTUSER_NAME=root

MOUNTPT=/mnt/ramdisk
SIZE=2000 # 2K blocks (change as appropriate)
BLOCKSIZE=1024 # 1K (1024 byte) block size
DEVICE=/dev/ram0 # First ram device

username=`id -nu`
if [ "$username" != "$ROOTUSER_NAME" ]
then
echo "Must be root to run \"`basename $0`\"."
exit $E_NON_ROOT_USER
fi

if [ ! -d "$MOUNTPT" ] # Test whether mount point already there,

then #+ so no error if this script is run
mkdir $MOUNTPT #+ multiple times.
fi

dd if=/dev/zero of=$DEVICE count=$SIZE bs=$BLOCKSIZE # Zero out RAM device.

mke2fs $DEVICE # Create an ext2 filesystem on it.
mount $DEVICE $MOUNTPT # Mount it.
chmod 777 $MOUNTPT # So ordinary user can access ramdisk.

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Of Zeros and Nulls

# However, must be root to unmount it.

echo "\"$MOUNTPT\" now available for use."

# The ramdisk is now accessible for storing files, even by an ordinary user.

# Caution, the ramdisk is volatile, and its contents will disappear

#+ on reboot or power loss.
# Copy anything you want saved to a regular directory.

# After reboot, run this script again to set up ramdisk.

# Remounting /mnt/ramdisk without the other steps will not work.

exit 0

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Debugging

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

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Chapter 30. Debugging

The Bash shell contains no debugger, nor even any debugging-specific commands or constructs. Syntax errors or
outright typos in the script generate cryptic error messages that are often of no help in debugging a non-functional
script.

Example 30-1. A buggy script

#!/bin/bash
# ex74.sh

# This is a buggy script.

a=37

if [$a -gt 27 ]
then
echo $a
fi

exit 0

Output from script:

./ex74.sh: [37: command not found

What's wrong with the above script (hint: after the if)?

Example 30-2. Missing keyword

#!/bin/bash
# missing-keyword.sh: What error message will this generate?

for a in 1 2 3
do
echo "$a"
# done # Required keyword 'done' commented out in line 7.

exit 0

Output from script:

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Debugging

missing-keyword.sh: line 10: syntax error: unexpected end of file

Note that the error message does not necessarily reference the line in which the error occurs, but the line where the
Bash interpreter finally becomes aware of the error.

What if the script executes, but does not work as expected? This is the all too familiar logic error.

Example 30-3. test24, another buggy script

#!/bin/bash

# This is supposed to delete all filenames in current directory

#+ containing embedded spaces.
# It doesn't work. Why not?

badname=`ls | grep ' '`

# echo "$badname"

rm "$badname"

exit 0

Try to find out what's wrong with Example 30-3 by uncommenting the echo "$badname" line. Echo statements
are useful for seeing whether what you expect is actually what you get.

In this particular case, rm "$badname" will not give the desired results because $badname should not be quoted.
Placing it in quotes ensures that rm has only one argument (it will match only one filename). A partial fix is to remove
to quotes from $badname and to reset $IFS to contain only a newline, IFS=$'\n'. However, there are simpler
ways of going about it.

# Correct methods of deleting filenames containing spaces.

rm *\ *
rm *" "*
rm *' '*
# Thank you. S.C.

Summarizing the symptoms of a buggy script,

1. It bombs with a "syntax error" message, or

2. It runs, but does not work as expected (logic error).
3. It runs, works as expected, but has nasty side effects (logic bomb).

Tools for debugging non-working scripts include

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Debugging

1. echo statements at critical points in the script to trace the variables, and otherwise give a snapshot of what is
going on.
2. using the tee filter to check processes or data flows at critical points.
3. setting option flags -n -v -x

sh -n scriptname checks for syntax errors without actually running the script. This is the equivalent of
inserting set -n or set -o noexec into the script. Note that certain types of syntax errors can slip past
this check.

sh -v scriptname echoes each command before executing it. This is the equivalent of inserting set -v
or set -o verbose in the script.

The -n and -v flags work well together. sh -nv scriptname gives a verbose syntax check.

sh -x scriptname echoes the result each command, but in an abbreviated manner. This is the equivalent
of inserting set -x or set -o xtrace in the script.

Inserting set -u or set -o nounset in the script runs it, but gives an unbound variable error message at
each attempt to use an undeclared variable.
4. Using an "assert" function to test a variable or condition at critical points in a script. (This is an idea borrowed
from C.)

Example 30-4. Testing a condition with an "assert"

#!/bin/bash
# assert.sh

assert () # If condition false,

{ #+ exit from script with error message.
E_PARAM_ERR=98
E_ASSERT_FAILED=99

if [ -z "$2" ] # Not enough parameters passed.

then
return $E_PARAM_ERR # No damage done.
fi

lineno=$2

if [ ! $1 ]
then
echo "Assertion failed: \"$1\""
echo "File \"$0\", line $lineno"
exit $E_ASSERT_FAILED
# else
# return
# and continue executing script.
fi
}

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Debugging

a=5
b=4
condition="$a -lt $b" # Error message and exit from script.
# Try setting "condition" to something else,
#+ and see what happens.

assert "$condition" $LINENO

# The remainder of the script executes only if the "assert" does not fail.

# Some commands.
# ...
echo "You will never see this statement echo."
# ...
# Some more commands.

exit 0

5. trapping at exit.

The exit command in a script triggers a signal 0, terminating the process, that is, the script itself. [1] It is often
useful to trap the exit, forcing a "printout" of variables, for example. The trap must be the first command in the
script.

Trapping signals

trap

Specifies an action on receipt of a signal; also useful for debugging.

A signal is simply a message sent to a process, either by the kernel or another process,
telling it to take some specified action (usually to terminate). For example, hitting a Control-
C, sends a user interrupt, an INT signal, to a running program.
trap '' 2
# Ignore interrupt 2 (Control-C), with no action specified.

trap 'echo "Control-C disabled."' 2

# Message when Control-C pressed.

Example 30-5. Trapping at exit

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Debugging

#!/bin/bash

trap 'echo Variable Listing --- a = $a b = $b' EXIT

# EXIT is the name of the signal generated upon exit from a script.

a=39

b=36

exit 0
# Note that commenting out the 'exit' command makes no difference,
# since the script exits in any case after running out of commands.

Example 30-6. Cleaning up after Control-C

#!/bin/bash
# logon.sh: A quick 'n dirty script to check whether you are on-line yet.

TRUE=1
LOGFILE=/var/log/messages
# Note that $LOGFILE must be readable (chmod 644 /var/log/messages).
TEMPFILE=temp.$$
# Create a "unique" temp file name, using process id of the script.
KEYWORD=address
# At logon, the line "remote IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
# appended to /var/log/messages.
ONLINE=22
USER_INTERRUPT=13
CHECK_LINES=100
# How many lines in log file to check.

trap 'rm -f $TEMPFILE; exit $USER_INTERRUPT' TERM INT

# Cleans up the temp file if script interrupted by control-c.

echo

while [ $TRUE ] #Endless loop.

do
tail -$CHECK_LINES $LOGFILE> $TEMPFILE
# Saves last 100 lines of system log file as temp file.
# Necessary, since newer kernels generate many log messages at log on.
search=`grep $KEYWORD $TEMPFILE`
# Checks for presence of the "IP address" phrase,
# indicating a successful logon.

if [ ! -z "$search" ] # Quotes necessary because of possible spaces.

then
echo "On-line"
rm -f $TEMPFILE # Clean up temp file.
exit $ONLINE

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Debugging

else
echo -n "." # -n option to echo suppresses newline,
# so you get continuous rows of dots.
fi

sleep 1
done

# Note: if you change the KEYWORD variable to "Exit",

# this script can be used while on-line to check for an unexpected logoff.

# Exercise: Change the script, as per the above note,

# and prettify it.

exit 0

# Nick Drage suggests an alternate method:

while true
do ifconfig ppp0 | grep UP 1> /dev/null && echo "connected" && exit 0
echo -n "." # Prints dots (.....) until connected.
sleep 2
done

# Problem: Hitting Control-C to terminate this process may be insufficient.

# (Dots may keep on echoing.)
# Exercise: Fix this.

# Stephane Chazelas has yet another alternative:

CHECK_INTERVAL=1

while ! tail -1 "$LOGFILE" | grep -q "$KEYWORD"

do echo -n .
sleep $CHECK_INTERVAL
done
echo "On-line"

# Exercise: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses

# of each of these various approaches.

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Debugging

The DEBUG argument to trap causes a specified action to execute after every command in a script. This
permits tracing variables, for example.

Example 30-7. Tracing a variable

#!/bin/bash

trap 'echo "VARIABLE-TRACE> \$variable = \"$variable\""' DEBUG

# Echoes the value of $variable after every command.

variable=29

echo "Just initialized \"\$variable\" to $variable."

let "variable *= 3"

echo "Just multiplied \"\$variable\" by 3."

# The "trap 'commands' DEBUG" construct would be more useful

# in the context of a complex script,
# where placing multiple "echo $variable" statements might be
# clumsy and time-consuming.

# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas for the pointer.

exit 0

trap '' SIGNAL (two adjacent apostrophes) disables SIGNAL for the remainder of the script. trap
SIGNAL restores the functioning of SIGNAL once more. This is useful to protect a critical portion of a script
from an undesirable interrupt.

trap '' 2 # Signal 2 is Control-C, now disabled.

command
command
command
trap 2 # Reenables Control-C

Notes

[1] By convention, signal 0 is assigned to exit.

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Of Zeros and Nulls Up Options

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Scripting With Style

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 33. Scripting With Style

Get into the habit of writing shell scripts in a structured and systematic manner. Even "on-
the-fly" and "written on the back of an envelope" scripts will benefit if you take a few
minutes to plan and organize your thoughts before sitting down and coding.

Herewith are a few stylistic guidelines. This is not intended as an Official Shell Scripting
Stylesheet.

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Gotchas Up Unofficial Shell Scripting
Stylesheet

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Miscellany

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Chapter 34. Miscellany

Nobody really knows what the Bourne shell's
grammar is. Even examination of the source
code is little help.

Tom Duff

Table of Contents
34.1. Interactive and non-interactive shells and scripts
34.2. Shell Wrappers
34.3. Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives
34.4. Optimizations
34.5. Assorted Tips
34.6. Oddities
34.7. Security Issues
34.8. Portability Issues
34.9. Shell Scripting Under Windows

Prev Home Next

Unofficial Shell Scripting Up Interactive and non-
Stylesheet interactive shells and scripts

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Author's Note

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 36. Endnotes Next

36.1. Author's Note

How did I come to write a Bash scripting book? It's a strange tale. It seems that a couple of
years back, I needed to learn shell scripting -- and what better way to do that than to read a
good book on the subject? I was looking to buy a tutorial and reference covering all aspects
of the subject. I was looking for a book that would take difficult concepts, turn them inside
out, and explain them in excruciating detail with well-commented examples. [1] In fact, I
was looking for this very book, or something much like it. Unfortunately, it didn't exist, and
if I wanted it, I'd have to write it. And so, here we are, folks.

This reminds me of the apocryphal story about the mad professor. Crazy as a loon, the
fellow was. At the sight of a book, any book -- at the library, at a bookstore, anywhere -- he
would become totally obsessed with the idea that he could have written it, should have
written it, and done a better job of it to boot. He would thereupon rush home and proceed to
do just that, write a book with the very same title. When he died some years later, he
allegedly had several thousand books to his credit, probably putting even Asimov to shame.
The books might not have been any good, who knows, but does that really matter? Here's a
fellow who lived his dream, even if he was obsessed by it, driven by it, and I can't help
admiring the old coot...

Notes

[1] This is the notorious "flog it to death" technique.

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Endnotes Up About the Author

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About the Author

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 36. Endnotes Next

36.2. About the Author

Who is this guy anyhow?

The author claims no credentials or special qualifications, other than a compulsion to write.
[1] This book is somewhat of a departure from his other major work, HOW-2 Meet Women:
The Shy Man's Guide to Relationships. He has also written the Software-Building HOWTO.

A Linux user since 1995 (Slackware 2.2, kernel 1.2.1), the author has emitted a few
software truffles, including the cruft one-time pad encryption utility, the mcalc mortgage
calculator, the judge Scrabble® adjudicator, and the yawl word gaming list package. He got
his start in programming using FORTRAN IV on a CDC 3800, but is not the least bit
nostalgic for those days.

Living in a secluded desert community with wife and dog, he cherishes human frailty.

Notes

[1] Those who can, do. Those who can't... get an MCSE.

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Author's Note Up Tools Used to Produce This
Book

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Tools Used to Produce This Book

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 36. Endnotes Next

36.3. Tools Used to Produce This

Book
36.3.1. Hardware
A used IBM Thinkpad, model 760XL laptop (P166, 104 meg RAM) running Red Hat
7.1/7.3. Sure, it's slow and has a funky keyboard, but it beats the heck out of a No. 2 pencil
and a Big Chief tablet.

36.3.2. Software and Printware

i. Bram Moolenaar's powerful SGML-aware vim text editor.
ii. OpenJade, a DSSSL rendering engine for converting SGML documents into other
formats.
iii. Norman Walsh's DSSSL stylesheets.
iv. DocBook, The Definitive Guide, by Norman Walsh and Leonard Muellner (O'Reilly,
ISBN 1-56592-580-7). This is the standard reference for anyone attempting to write a
document in Docbook SGML format.

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About the Author Up Credits

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Credits

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 36. Endnotes Next

36.4. Credits
Community participation made this project possible. The author gratefully acknowledges
that writing this book would have been an impossible task without help and feedback from
all you people out there.

Philippe Martin translated this document into DocBook/SGML. While not on the job at a
small French company as a software developer, he enjoys working on GNU/Linux
documentation and software, reading literature, playing music, and for his peace of mind
making merry with friends. You may run across him somewhere in France or in the Basque
Country, or email him at [email protected].

Philippe Martin also pointed out that positional parameters past $9 are possible using
{bracket} notation, see Example 5-5.

Stephane Chazelas sent a long list of corrections, additions, and example scripts. More than
a contributor, he has, in effect, taken on the role of editor for this document. Merci
beaucoup!

I would like to especially thank Patrick Callahan, Mike Novak, and Pal Domokos for
catching bugs, pointing out ambiguities, and for suggesting clarifications and changes. Their
lively discussion of shell scripting and general documentation issues inspired me to try to
make this document more readable.

I'm grateful to Jim Van Zandt for pointing out errors and omissions in version 0.2 of this
document. He also contributed an instructive example script.

Many thanks to Jordi Sanfeliu for giving permission to use his fine tree script (Example A-
17).

Likewise, thanks to Michel Charpentier for permission to use his dc factoring script
(Example 12-36).

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Credits

Kudos to Noah Friedman for permission to use his string function script (Example A-18).

Emmanuel Rouat suggested corrections and additions on command substitution and aliases.
He also contributed a very nice sample .bashrc file (Appendix G).

Heiner Steven kindly gave permission to use his base conversion script, Example 12-33. He
also made a number of corrections and many helpful suggestions. Special thanks.

Rick Boivie contributed the delightfully recursive pb.sh script (Example 34-10) and
suggested performance improvements for the monthlypmt.sh script (Example 12-32).

Florian Wisser enlightened me on some of the fine points of testing strings (see Example 7-
5), and on other matters.

Oleg Philon sent suggestions concerning cut and pidof.

Marc-Jano Knopp sent corrections on DOS batch files.

Hyun Jin Cha found several typos in the document in the process of doing a Korean
translation. Thanks for pointing these out.

Andreas Abraham sent in a long list of typographical errors and other corrections. Special
thanks!

Others making helpful suggestions and pointing out errors were Gabor Kiss, Leopold
Toetsch, Peter Tillier, Marcus Berglof, Tony Richardson, Nick Drage (script ideas!), Rich
Bartell, Jess Thrysoee, Adam Lazur, Bram Moolenaar, Baris Cicek, and David Lawyer
(himself an author of 4 HOWTOs).

My gratitude to Chet Ramey and Brian Fox for writing Bash, an elegant and powerful
scripting tool.

Very special thanks to the hard-working volunteers at the Linux Documentation Project. The
LDP hosts a repository of Linux knowledge and lore, and has, to a large extent, enabled the
publication of this book.

Thanks most of all to my wife, Anita, for her encouragement and emotional support.

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Credits

Prev Home Next

Tools Used to Produce This Up Bibliography
Book

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Bibliography

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Bibliography
Edited by Peter Denning, Computers Under Attack: Intruders, Worms, and Viruses, ACM
Press, 1990, 0-201-53067-8.

This compendium contains a couple of articles on shell script viruses.

Dale Dougherty and Arnold Robbins, Sed and Awk, 2nd edition, O'Reilly and Associates,
1997, 1-156592-225-5.

To unfold the full power of shell scripting, you need at least a passing familiarity with sed
and awk. This is the standard tutorial. It includes an excellent introduction to "regular
expressions". Read this book.

Aeleen Frisch, Essential System Administration, 2nd edition, O'Reilly and Associates, 1995,
1-56592-127-5.

This excellent sys admin manual has a decent introduction to shell scripting for sys
administrators and does a nice job of explaining the startup and initialization scripts. The
book is long overdue for a third edition (are you listening, Tim O'Reilly?).

Stephen Kochan and Patrick Woods, Unix Shell Programming, Hayden, 1990, 067248448X.

The standard reference, though a bit dated by now.

Neil Matthew and Richard Stones, Beginning Linux Programming, Wrox Press, 1996,

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Bibliography

1874416680.

Good in-depth coverage of various programming languages available for Linux, including a
fairly strong chapter on shell scripting.

Herbert Mayer, Advanced C Programming on the IBM PC, Windcrest Books, 1989,
0830693637.

Excellent coverage of algorithms and general programming practices.

David Medinets, Unix Shell Programming Tools, McGraw-Hill, 1999, 0070397333.

Good info on shell scripting, with examples, and a short intro to Tcl and Perl.

Cameron Newham and Bill Rosenblatt, Learning the Bash Shell, 2nd edition, O'Reilly and
Associates, 1998, 1-56592-347-2.

This is a valiant effort at a decent shell primer, but somewhat deficient in coverage on
programming topics and lacking sufficient examples.

Anatole Olczak, Bourne Shell Quick Reference Guide, ASP, Inc., 1991, 093573922X.

A very handy pocket reference, despite lacking coverage of Bash-specific features.

Jerry Peek, Tim O'Reilly, and Mike Loukides, Unix Power Tools, 2nd edition, O'Reilly and
Associates, Random House, 1997, 1-56592-260-3.

Contains a couple of sections of very informative in-depth articles on shell programming,

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Bibliography

but falls short of being a tutorial. It reproduces much of the regular expressions tutorial from
the Dougherty and Robbins book, above.

Clifford Pickover, Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty, St. Martin's Press, 1990, 0-312-
04123-3.

A treasure trove of ideas and recipes for computer-based exploration of mathematical

oddities.

George Polya, How To Solve It, Princeton University Press, 1973, 0-691-02356-5.

The classic tutorial on problem solving methods (i.e., algorithms).

Arnold Robbins, Bash Reference Card, SSC, 1998, 1-58731-010-5.

Excellent Bash pocket reference (don't leave home without it). A bargain at $4.95, but also
available for free download on-line in pdf format.

Arnold Robbins, Effective Awk Programming, Free Software Foundation / O'Reilly and
Associates, 2000, 1-882114-26-4.

The absolute best awk tutorial and reference. The free electronic version of this book is part
of the awk documentation, and printed copies of the latest version are available from
O'Reilly and Associates.

This book has served as an inspiration for the author of this document.

Bill Rosenblatt, Learning the Korn Shell, O'Reilly and Associates, 1993, 1-56592-054-6.

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Bibliography

This well-written book contains some excellent pointers on shell scripting.

Paul Sheer, LINUX: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition, 1st edition, , 2002, 0-13-033351-
4.

Very detailed and readable introduction to Linux system administration.

The book is available in print, or on-line.

Ellen Siever and the staff of O'Reilly and Associates, Linux in a Nutshell, 2nd edition,
O'Reilly and Associates, 1999, 1-56592-585-8.

The all-around best Linux command reference, even has a Bash section.

The UNIX CD Bookshelf, 2nd edition, O'Reilly and Associates, 2000, 1-56592-815-6.

An array of six UNIX books on CD ROM, including UNIX Power Tools, Sed and Awk, and
Learning the Korn Shell. A complete set of all the UNIX references and tutorials you would
ever need at about $70. Buy this one, even if it means going into debt and not paying the
rent.

Unfortunately, out of print at present.

The O'Reilly books on Perl. (Actually, any O'Reilly books.)

---

Ben Okopnik's well-written introductory Bash scripting articles in issues 53, 54, 55, 57, and
59 of the Linux Gazette , and his explanation of "The Deep, Dark Secrets of Bash" in issue
56.

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Bibliography

Chet Ramey's bash - The GNU Shell, a two-part series published in issues 3 and 4 of the
Linux Journal, July-August 1994.

Mike G's Bash-Programming-Intro HOWTO.

Richard's UNIX Scripting Universe.

Chet Ramey's Bash F.A.Q.

Ed Schaefer's Shell Corner in Unix Review.

Example shell scripts at Lucc's Shell Scripts .

Example shell scripts at SHELLdorado .

Example shell scripts at Noah Friedman's script site.

Example shell scripts at SourceForge Snippet Library - shell scrips.

Giles Orr's Bash-Prompt HOWTO.

The sed F.A.Q.

Carlos Duarte's instructive "Do It With Sed" tutorial.

Very nice sed, awk, and regular expression tutorials at The UNIX Grymoire.

The GNU gawk reference manual (gawk is the extended GNU version of awk available on
Linux and BSD systems).

Trent Fisher's groff tutorial.

Mark Komarinski's Printing-Usage HOWTO.

There is some nice material on I/O redirection in chapter 10 of the textutils documentation at
the University of Alberta site.

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Bibliography

Rick Hohensee has written the osimpa i386 assembler entirely as Bash scripts.

---

The excellent "Bash Reference Manual", by Chet Ramey and Brian Fox, distributed as part
of the "bash-2-doc" package (available as an rpm). See especially the instructive example
scripts in this package.

The comp.os.unix.shell newsgroup.

The manpages for bash and bash2, date, expect, expr, find, grep, gzip, ln, patch, tar, tr,
bc, xargs. The texinfo documentation on bash, dd, m4, gawk, and sed.

Prev Home Next

Credits Contributed Scripts

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Contributed Scripts

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix A. Contributed Scripts

These scripts, while not fitting into the text of this document, do illustrate some interesting shell programming techniques.
They are useful, too. Have fun analyzing and running them.

Example A-1. manview: Viewing formatted manpages

#!/bin/bash
# manview.sh: Formats the source of a man page for viewing.

# This is useful when writing man page source and you want to
# look at the intermediate results on the fly while working on it.

E_WRONGARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` [filename]"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

groff -Tascii -man $1 | less

# From the man page for groff.

# If the man page includes tables and/or equations,

# then the above code will barf.
# The following line can handle such cases.
#
# gtbl < "$1" | geqn -Tlatin1 | groff -Tlatin1 -mtty-char -man
#
# Thanks, S.C.

exit 0

Example A-2. mailformat: Formatting an e-mail message

#!/bin/bash
# mail-format.sh: Format e-mail messages.

# Gets rid of carets, tabs, also fold excessively long lines.

# =================================================================
# Standard Check for Script Argument(s)
ARGS=1
E_BADARGS=65
E_NOFILE=66

if [ $# -ne $ARGS ] # Correct number of arguments passed to script?

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Contributed Scripts

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ -f "$1" ] # Check if file exists.

then
file_name=$1
else
echo "File \"$1\" does not exist."
exit $E_NOFILE
fi
# =================================================================

MAXWIDTH=70 # Width to fold long lines to.

# Delete carets and tabs at beginning of lines,

#+ then fold lines to $MAXWIDTH characters.
sed '
s/^>//
s/^ *>//
s/^ *//
s/ *//
' $1 | fold -s --width=$MAXWIDTH
# -s option to "fold" breaks lines at whitespace, if possible.

# This script was inspired by an article in a well-known trade journal

#+ extolling a 164K Windows utility with similar functionality.
#
# An nice set of text processing utilities and an efficient
#+ scripting language makes unnecessary bloated executables.

exit 0

Example A-3. rn: A simple-minded file rename utility

This script is a modification of Example 12-15.

#! /bin/bash
#
# Very simpleminded filename "rename" utility (based on "lowercase.sh").
#
# The "ren" utility, by Vladimir Lanin ([email protected]),
#+ does a much better job of this.

ARGS=2
E_BADARGS=65
ONE=1 # For getting singular/plural right (see below).

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` old-pattern new-pattern"
# As in "rn gif jpg", which renames all gif files in working directory to jpg.

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Contributed Scripts

exit $E_BADARGS
fi

number=0 # Keeps track of how many files actually renamed.

for filename in *$1* #Traverse all matching files in directory.

do
if [ -f "$filename" ] # If finds match...
then
fname=`basename $filename` # Strip off path.
n=`echo $fname | sed -e "s/$1/$2/"` # Substitute new for old in filename.
mv $fname $n # Rename.
let "number += 1"
fi
done

if [ "$number" -eq "$ONE" ] # For correct grammar.

then
echo "$number file renamed."
else
echo "$number files renamed."
fi

exit 0

# Exercises:
# ---------
# What type of files will this not work on?
# How can this be fixed?
#
# Rewrite this script to process all the files in a directory
#+ containing spaces in their names, and to rename them,
#+ substituting an underscore for each space.

Example A-4. blank-rename: renames filenames containing blanks

This is an even simpler-minded version of previous script.

#! /bin/bash
# blank-rename.sh
#
# Substitutes underscores for blanks in all the filenames in a directory.

ONE=1 # For getting singular/plural right (see below).

number=0 # Keeps track of how many files actually renamed.
FOUND=0 # Successful return value.

for filename in * #Traverse all files in directory.

do
echo "$filename" | grep -q " " # Check whether filename
if [ $? -eq $FOUND ] #+ contains space(s).
then

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Contributed Scripts

fname=$filename # Strip off path.

n=`echo $fname | sed -e "s/ /_/g"` # Substitute underscore for blank.
mv "$fname" "$n" # Do the actual renaming.
let "number += 1"
fi
done

if [ "$number" -eq "$ONE" ] # For correct grammar.

then
echo "$number file renamed."
else
echo "$number files renamed."
fi

exit 0

Example A-5. encryptedpw: Uploading to an ftp site, using a locally encrypted password

#!/bin/bash

# Example "ex72.sh" modified to use encrypted password.

# Note that this is still somewhat insecure,

#+ since the decrypted password is sent in the clear.
# Use something like "ssh" if this is a concern.

E_BADARGS=65

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

Username=bozo # Change to suit.

pword=/home/bozo/secret/password_encrypted.file
# File containing encrypted password.

Filename=`basename $1` # Strips pathname out of file name

Server="XXX"
Directory="YYY" # Change above to actual server name & directory.

Password=`cruft <$pword` # Decrypt password.

# Uses the author's own "cruft" file encryption package,
#+ based on the classic "onetime pad" algorithm,
#+ and obtainable from:
#+ Primary-site: ftp://metalab.unc.edu /pub/Linux/utils/file
#+ cruft-0.2.tar.gz [16k]

ftp -n $Server <<End-Of-Session

user $Username $Password
binary

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Contributed Scripts

bell
cd $Directory
put $Filename
bye
End-Of-Session
# -n option to "ftp" disables auto-logon.
# "bell" rings 'bell' after each file transfer.

exit 0

Example A-6. copy-cd: Copying a data CD

#!/bin/bash
# copy-cd.sh: copying a data CD

CDROM=/dev/cdrom # CD ROM device

OF=/home/bozo/projects/cdimage.iso # output file
# /xxxx/xxxxxxx/ Change to suit your system.
BLOCKSIZE=2048
SPEED=2 # May use higher speed if supported.

echo; echo "Insert source CD, but do *not* mount it."

echo "Press ENTER when ready. "
read ready # Wait for input, $ready not used.

echo; echo "Copying the source CD to $OF."

echo "This may take a while. Please be patient."

dd if=$CDROM of=$OF bs=$BLOCKSIZE # Raw device copy.

echo; echo "Remove data CD."

echo "Insert blank CDR."
echo "Press ENTER when ready. "
read ready # Wait for input, $ready not used.

echo "Copying $OF to CDR."

cdrecord -v -isosize speed=$SPEED dev=0,0 $OF

# Uses Joerg Schilling's "cdrecord" package (see its docs).
# http://www.fokus.gmd.de/nthp/employees/schilling/cdrecord.html

echo; echo "Done copying $OF to CDR on device $CDROM."

echo "Do you want to erase the image file (y/n)? " # Probably a huge file.
read answer

case "$answer" in
[yY]) rm -f $OF
echo "$OF erased."
;;
*) echo "$OF not erased.";;
esac

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echo

# Exercise:
# Change the above "case" statement to also accept "yes" and "Yes" as input.

exit 0

Example A-7. Collatz series

#!/bin/bash
# collatz.sh

# The notorious "hailstone" or Collatz series.

# -------------------------------------------
# 1) Get the integer "seed" from the command line.
# 2) NUMBER <--- seed
# 3) Print NUMBER.
# 4) If NUMBER is even, divide by 2, or
# 5)+ if odd, multiply by 3 and add 1.
# 6) NUMBER <--- result
# 7) Loop back to step 3 (for specified number of iterations).
#
# The theory is that every sequence,
#+ no matter how large the initial value,
#+ eventually settles down to repeating "4,2,1..." cycles,
#+ even after fluctuating through a wide range of values.
#
# This is an instance of an "iterate",
#+ an operation that feeds its output back into the input.
# Sometimes the result is a "chaotic" series.

ARGS=1
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne $ARGS ] # Need a seed number.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` NUMBER"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

MAX_ITERATIONS=200
# For large seed numbers (>32000), increase MAX_ITERATIONS.

h=$1 # Seed

echo
echo "C($1) --- $MAX_ITERATIONS Iterations"
echo

for ((i=1; i<=MAX_ITERATIONS; i++))

do

echo -n "$h "

# ^^^^^
# tab

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let "remainder = h % 2"

if [ "$remainder" -eq 0 ] # Even?
then
let "h /= 2" # Divide by 2.
else
let "h = h*3 + 1" # Multiply by 3 and add 1.
fi

COLUMNS=10 # Output 10 values per line.

let "line_break = i % $COLUMNS"
if [ "$line_break" -eq 0 ]
then
echo
fi

done

echo

# For more information on this mathematical function,

#+ see "Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty", by Pickover, p. 185 ff.,
#+ as listed in the bibliography.

exit 0

Example A-8. days-between: Calculate number of days between two dates

#!/bin/bash
# days-between.sh: Number of days between two dates.
# Usage: ./days-between.sh [M]M/[D]D/YYYY [M]M/[D]D/YYYY

ARGS=2 # Two command line parameters expected.

E_PARAM_ERR=65 # Param error.

REFYR=1600 # Reference year.

CENTURY=100
DIY=365
ADJ_DIY=367 # Adjusted for leap year + fraction.
MIY=12
DIM=31
LEAPCYCLE=4

MAXRETVAL=256 # Largest permissable

# positive return value from a function.

diff= # Declare global variable for date difference.

value= # Declare global variable for absolute value.
day= # Declare globals for day, month, year.
month=
year=

Param_Error () # Command line parameters wrong.

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{
echo "Usage: `basename $0` [M]M/[D]D/YYYY [M]M/[D]D/YYYY"
echo " (date must be after 1/3/1600)"
exit $E_PARAM_ERR
}

Parse_Date () # Parse date from command line params.

{
month=${1%%/**}
dm=${1%/**} # Day and month.
day=${dm#*/}
let "year = `basename $1`" # Not a filename, but works just the same.
}

check_date () # Checks for invalid date(s) passed.

{
[ "$day" -gt "$DIM" ] || [ "$month" -gt "$MIY" ] || [ "$year" -lt "$REFYR" ] &&
Param_Error
# Exit script on bad value(s).
# Uses "or-list / and-list".
#
# Exercise: Implement more rigorous date checking.
}

strip_leading_zero () # Better to strip possible leading zero(s)

{ # from day and/or month
val=${1#0} # since otherwise Bash will interpret them
return $val # as octal values (POSIX.2, sect 2.9.2.1).
}

day_index () # Gauss' Formula:

{ # Days from Jan. 3, 1600 to date passed as param.

day=$1
month=$2
year=$3

let "month = $month - 2"

if [ "$month" -le 0 ]
then
let "month += 12"
let "year -= 1"
fi

let "year -= $REFYR"

let "indexyr = $year / $CENTURY"

let "Days = $DIY*$year + $year/$LEAPCYCLE - $indexyr + $indexyr/$LEAPCYCLE +

$ADJ_DIY*$month/$MIY + $day - $DIM"
# For an in-depth explanation of this algorithm, see
# http://home.t-online.de/home/berndt.schwerdtfeger/cal.htm

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if [ "$Days" -gt "$MAXRETVAL" ] # If greater than 256,

then # then change to negative value
let "dindex = 0 - $Days" # which can be returned from function.
else let "dindex = $Days"
fi

return $dindex

calculate_difference () # Difference between to day indices.

{
let "diff = $1 - $2" # Global variable.
}

abs () # Absolute value

{ # Uses global "value" variable.
if [ "$1" -lt 0 ] # If negative
then # then
let "value = 0 - $1" # change sign,
else # else
let "value = $1" # leave it alone.
fi
}

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # Require two command line params.

then
Param_Error
fi

Parse_Date $1
check_date $day $month $year # See if valid date.

strip_leading_zero $day # Remove any leading zeroes

day=$? # on day and/or month.
strip_leading_zero $month
month=$?

day_index $day $month $year

date1=$?

abs $date1 # Make sure it's positive

date1=$value # by getting absolute value.

Parse_Date $2
check_date $day $month $year

strip_leading_zero $day
day=$?
strip_leading_zero $month
month=$?

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day_index $day $month $year

date2=$?

abs $date2 # Make sure it's positive.

date2=$value

calculate_difference $date1 $date2

abs $diff # Make sure it's positive.

diff=$value

echo $diff

exit 0
# Compare this script with the implementation of Gauss' Formula in C at
# http://buschencrew.hypermart.net/software/datedif

Example A-9. Make a "dictionary"

#!/bin/bash
# makedict.sh [make dictionary]

# Modification of /usr/sbin/mkdict script.

# Original script copyright 1993, by Alec Muffett.
#
# This modified script included in this document in a manner
#+ consistent with the "LICENSE" document of the "Crack" package
#+ that the original script is a part of.

# This script processes text files to produce a sorted list

#+ of words found in the files.
# This may be useful for compiling dictionaries
#+ and for lexicographic research.

E_BADARGS=65

if [ ! -r "$1" ] # Need at least one

then #+ valid file argument.
echo "Usage: $0 files-to-process"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

# SORT="sort" # No longer necessary to define options

#+ to sort. Changed from original script.

cat $* | # Contents of specified files to stdout.

tr A-Z a-z | # Convert to uppercase.
tr ' ' '\012' | # New: change spaces to newlines.
# tr -cd '\012[a-z][0-9]' | # Get rid of everything non-alphanumeric
#+ (original script).
tr -c '\012a-z' '\012' | # Rather than deleting
#+ now change non-alpha to newlines.
sort | # $SORT options unnecessary now.

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uniq | # Remove duplicates.

grep -v '^#' | # Delete lines beginning with a hashmark.
grep -v '^$' # Delete blank lines.

exit 0

Example A-10. "Game of Life"

#!/bin/bash
# life.sh: "Life in the Slow Lane"

# ##################################################################### #
# This is the Bash script version of John Conway's "Game of Life". #
# "Life" is a simple implementation of cellular automata. #
# --------------------------------------------------------------------- #
# On a rectangular grid, let each "cell" be either "living" or "dead". #
# Designate a living cell with a dot, and a dead one with a blank space.#
# Begin with an arbitrarily drawn dot-and-blank grid, #
#+ and let this be the starting generation, "generation 0". #
# Determine each successive generation by the following rules: #
# 1) Each cell has 8 neighbors, the adjoining cells #
#+ left, right, top, bottom, and the 4 diagonals. #
# 123 #
# 4*5 #
# 678 #
# #
# 2) A living cell with either 2 or 3 living neighbors remains alive. #
# 3) A dead cell with 3 living neighbors becomes alive (a "birth"). #
SURVIVE=2 #
BIRTH=3 #
# 4) All other cases result in dead cells. #
# ##################################################################### #

startfile=gen0 # Read the starting generation from the file "gen0".

# Default, if no other file specified when invoking script.
#
if [ -n "$1" ] # Specify another "generation 0" file.
then
if [ -e "$1" ] # Check for existence.
then
startfile="$1"
fi
fi

ALIVE1=.
DEAD1=_
# Represent living and "dead" cells in the start-up file.

# This script uses a 10 x 10 grid (may be increased,

#+ but a large grid will will cause very slow execution).
ROWS=10
COLS=10

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GENERATIONS=10 # How many generations to cycle through.

# Adjust this upwards,
#+ if you have time on your hands.

NONE_ALIVE=80 # Exit status on premature bailout,

#+ if no cells left alive.
TRUE=0
FALSE=1
ALIVE=0
DEAD=1

avar= # Global; holds current generation.

generation=0 # Initialize generation count.

# =================================================================

let "cells = $ROWS * $COLS"

# How many cells.

declare -a initial # Arrays containing "cells".

declare -a current

display ()
{

alive=0 # How many cells "alive".

# Initially zero.

declare -a arr
arr=( `echo "$1"` ) # Convert passed arg to array.

element_count=${#arr[*]}

local i
local rowcheck

for ((i=0; i<$element_count; i++))

do

# Insert newline at end of each row.

let "rowcheck = $i % ROWS"
if [ "$rowcheck" -eq 0 ]
then
echo # Newline.
echo -n " " # Indent.
fi

cell=${arr[i]}

if [ "$cell" = . ]
then
let "alive += 1"
fi

echo -n "$cell" | sed -e 's/_/ /g'

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# Print out array and change underscores to spaces.

done

return

IsValid () # Test whether cell coordinate valid.

{

if [ -z "$1" -o -z "$2" ] # Mandatory arguments missing?

then
return $FALSE
fi

local row
local lower_limit=0 # Disallow negative coordinate.
local upper_limit
local left
local right

let "upper_limit = $ROWS * $COLS - 1" # Total number of cells.

if [ "$1" -lt "$lower_limit" -o "$1" -gt "$upper_limit" ]

then
return $FALSE # Out of array bounds.
fi

row=$2
let "left = $row * $ROWS" # Left limit.
let "right = $left + $COLS - 1" # Right limit.

if [ "$1" -lt "$left" -o "$1" -gt "$right" ]

then
return $FALSE # Beyond row boundary.
fi

return $TRUE # Valid coordinate.

IsAlive () # Test whether cell is alive.

# Takes array, cell number, state of cell as arguments.
{
GetCount "$1" $2 # Get alive cell count in neighborhood.
local nhbd=$?

if [ "$nhbd" -eq "$BIRTH" ] # Alive in any case.

then
return $ALIVE
fi

if [ "$3" = "." -a "$nhbd" -eq "$SURVIVE" ]

then # Alive only if previously alive.

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return $ALIVE
fi

return $DEAD # Default.

GetCount () # Count live cells in passed cell's neighborhood.

# Two arguments needed:
# $1) variable holding array
# $2) cell number
{
local cell_number=$2
local array
local top
local center
local bottom
local r
local row
local i
local t_top
local t_cen
local t_bot
local count=0
local ROW_NHBD=3

array=( `echo "$1"` )

let "top = $cell_number - $COLS - 1" # Set up cell neighborhood.

let "center = $cell_number - 1"
let "bottom = $cell_number + $COLS - 1"
let "r = $cell_number / $ROWS"

for ((i=0; i<$ROW_NHBD; i++)) # Traverse from left to right.

do
let "t_top = $top + $i"
let "t_cen = $center + $i"
let "t_bot = $bottom + $i"

let "row = $r" # Count center row of neighborhood.

IsValid $t_cen $row # Valid cell position?
if [ $? -eq "$TRUE" ]
then
if [ ${array[$t_cen]} = "$ALIVE1" ] # Is it alive?
then # Yes?
let "count += 1" # Increment count.
fi
fi

let "row = $r - 1" # Count top row.

IsValid $t_top $row
if [ $? -eq "$TRUE" ]
then
if [ ${array[$t_top]} = "$ALIVE1" ]

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then
let "count += 1"
fi
fi

let "row = $r + 1" # Count bottom row.

IsValid $t_bot $row
if [ $? -eq "$TRUE" ]
then
if [ ${array[$t_bot]} = "$ALIVE1" ]
then
let "count += 1"
fi
fi

done

if [ ${array[$cell_number]} = "$ALIVE1" ]
then
let "count -= 1" # Make sure value of tested cell itself
fi #+ is not counted.

return $count

next_gen () # Update generation array.

{

local array
local i=0

array=( `echo "$1"` ) # Convert passed arg to array.

while [ "$i" -lt "$cells" ]

do
IsAlive "$1" $i ${array[$i]} # Is cell alive?
if [ $? -eq "$ALIVE" ]
then # If alive, then
array[$i]=. #+ represent the cell as a period.
else
array[$i]="_" # Otherwise underscore
fi #+ (which will later be converted to space).
let "i += 1"
done

# let "generation += 1" # Increment generation count.

# Set variable to pass as parameter to "display" function.

avar=`echo ${array[@]}` # Convert array back to string variable.
display "$avar" # Display it.
echo; echo
echo "Generation $generation -- $alive alive"

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if [ "$alive" -eq 0 ]
then
echo
echo "Premature exit: no more cells alive!"
exit $NONE_ALIVE # No point in continuing
fi #+ if no live cells.

# =========================================================

# main ()

# Load initial array with contents of startup file.

initial=( `cat "$startfile" | sed -e '/#/d' | tr -d '\n' |\
sed -e 's/\./\. /g' -e 's/_/_ /g'` )
# Delete lines containing '#' comment character.
# Remove linefeeds and insert space between elements.

clear # Clear screen.

echo # Title
echo "======================="
echo " $GENERATIONS generations"
echo " of"
echo "\"Life in the Slow Lane\""
echo "======================="

# -------- Display first generation. --------

Gen0=`echo ${initial[@]}`
display "$Gen0" # Display only.
echo; echo
echo "Generation $generation -- $alive alive"
# -------------------------------------------

let "generation += 1" # Increment generation count.

echo

# ------- Display second generation. -------

Cur=`echo ${initial[@]}`
next_gen "$Cur" # Update & display.
# ------------------------------------------

let "generation += 1" # Increment generation count.

# ------ Main loop for displaying subsequent generations ------

while [ "$generation" -le "$GENERATIONS" ]
do
Cur="$avar"
next_gen "$Cur"
let "generation += 1"
done
# ==============================================================

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echo

exit 0

# --------------------------------------------------------------
# The grid in this script has a "boundary problem".
# The the top, bottom, and sides border on a void of dead cells.
# Exercise: Change the script to have the grid wrap around,
# + so that the left and right sides will "touch",
# + as will the top and bottom.

Example A-11. Data file for "Game of Life"

# This is an example "generation 0" start-up file for "life.sh".

# --------------------------------------------------------------
# The "gen0" file is a 10 x 10 grid using a period (.) for live cells,
#+ and an underscore (_) for dead ones. We cannot simply use spaces
#+ for dead cells in this file because of a peculiarity in Bash arrays.
# [Exercise for the reader: explain this.]
#
# Lines beginning with a '#' are comments, and the script ignores them.
__.__..___
___._.____
____.___..
_._______.
____._____
..__...___
____._____
___...____
__.._..___
_..___..__

+++

The following two scripts are by Mark Moraes of the University of Toronto. See the enclosed file "Moraes-COPYRIGHT" for
permissions and restrictions.

Example A-12. behead: Removing mail and news message headers

#! /bin/sh
# Strips off the header from a mail/News message i.e. till the first
# empty line
# Mark Moraes, University of Toronto

# ==> These comments added by author of this document.

if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
# ==> If no command line args present, then works on file redirected to stdin.
sed -e '1,/^$/d' -e '/^[ ]*$/d'
# --> Delete empty lines and all lines until
# --> first one beginning with white space.
else

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# ==> If command line args present, then work on files named.

for i do
sed -e '1,/^$/d' -e '/^[ ]*$/d' $i
# --> Ditto, as above.
done
fi

# ==> Exercise: Add error checking and other options.

# ==>
# ==> Note that the small sed script repeats, except for the arg passed.
# ==> Does it make sense to embed it in a function? Why or why not?

Example A-13. ftpget: Downloading files via ftp

#! /bin/sh
# $Id: ftpget,v 1.2 91/05/07 21:15:43 moraes Exp $
# Script to perform batch anonymous ftp. Essentially converts a list of
# of command line arguments into input to ftp.
# Simple, and quick - written as a companion to ftplist
# -h specifies the remote host (default prep.ai.mit.edu)
# -d specifies the remote directory to cd to - you can provide a sequence
# of -d options - they will be cd'ed to in turn. If the paths are relative,
# make sure you get the sequence right. Be careful with relative paths -
# there are far too many symlinks nowadays.
# (default is the ftp login directory)
# -v turns on the verbose option of ftp, and shows all responses from the
# ftp server.
# -f remotefile[:localfile] gets the remote file into localfile
# -m pattern does an mget with the specified pattern. Remember to quote
# shell characters.
# -c does a local cd to the specified directory
# For example,
# ftpget -h expo.lcs.mit.edu -d contrib -f xplaces.shar:xplaces.sh \
# -d ../pub/R3/fixes -c ~/fixes -m 'fix*'
# will get xplaces.shar from ~ftp/contrib on expo.lcs.mit.edu, and put it in
# xplaces.sh in the current working directory, and get all fixes from
# ~ftp/pub/R3/fixes and put them in the ~/fixes directory.
# Obviously, the sequence of the options is important, since the equivalent
# commands are executed by ftp in corresponding order
#
# Mark Moraes ([email protected]), Feb 1, 1989
# ==> Angle brackets changed to parens, so Docbook won't get indigestion.
#

# ==> These comments added by author of this document.

# PATH=/local/bin:/usr/ucb:/usr/bin:/bin
# export PATH
# ==> Above 2 lines from original script probably superfluous.

TMPFILE=/tmp/ftp.$$
# ==> Creates temp file, using process id of script ($$)
# ==> to construct filename.

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SITE=`domainname`.toronto.edu
# ==> 'domainname' similar to 'hostname'
# ==> May rewrite this to parameterize this for general use.

usage="Usage: $0 [-h remotehost] [-d remotedirectory]... [-f remfile:localfile]... \

[-c localdirectory] [-m filepattern] [-v]"
ftpflags="-i -n"
verbflag=
set -f # So we can use globbing in -m
set x `getopt vh:d:c:m:f: $*`
if [ $? != 0 ]; then
echo $usage
exit 65
fi
shift
trap 'rm -f ${TMPFILE} ; exit' 0 1 2 3 15
echo "user anonymous ${USER-gnu}@${SITE} > ${TMPFILE}"
# ==> Added quotes (recommended in complex echoes).
echo binary >> ${TMPFILE}
for i in $* # ==> Parse command line args.
do
case $i in
-v) verbflag=-v; echo hash >> ${TMPFILE}; shift;;
-h) remhost=$2; shift 2;;
-d) echo cd $2 >> ${TMPFILE};
if [ x${verbflag} != x ]; then
echo pwd >> ${TMPFILE};
fi;
shift 2;;
-c) echo lcd $2 >> ${TMPFILE}; shift 2;;
-m) echo mget "$2" >> ${TMPFILE}; shift 2;;
-f) f1=`expr "$2" : "\([^:]*\).*"`; f2=`expr "$2" : "[^:]*:\(.*\)"`;
echo get ${f1} ${f2} >> ${TMPFILE}; shift 2;;
--) shift; break;;
esac
done
if [ $# -ne 0 ]; then
echo $usage
exit 65 # ==> Changed from "exit 2" to conform with standard.
fi
if [ x${verbflag} != x ]; then
ftpflags="${ftpflags} -v"
fi
if [ x${remhost} = x ]; then
remhost=prep.ai.mit.edu
# ==> Rewrite to match your favorite ftp site.
fi
echo quit >> ${TMPFILE}
# ==> All commands saved in tempfile.

ftp ${ftpflags} ${remhost} < ${TMPFILE}

# ==> Now, tempfile batch processed by ftp.

rm -f ${TMPFILE}

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# ==> Finally, tempfile deleted (you may wish to copy it to a logfile).

# ==> Exercises:
# ==> ---------
# ==> 1) Add error checking.
# ==> 2) Add bells & whistles.

Antek Sawicki contributed the following script, which makes very clever use of the parameter substitution operators discussed
in Section 9.3.

Example A-14. password: Generating random 8-character passwords

#!/bin/bash
# May need to be invoked with #!/bin/bash2 on older machines.
#
# Random password generator for bash 2.x by Antek Sawicki <[email protected]>,
# who generously gave permission to the document author to use it here.
#
# ==> Comments added by document author ==>

MATRIX="0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
LENGTH="8"
# ==> May change 'LENGTH' for longer password, of course.

while [ "${n:=1}" -le "$LENGTH" ]

# ==> Recall that := is "default substitution" operator.
# ==> So, if 'n' has not been initialized, set it to 1.
do
PASS="$PASS${MATRIX:$(($RANDOM%${#MATRIX})):1}"
# ==> Very clever, but tricky.

# ==> Starting from the innermost nesting...

# ==> ${#MATRIX} returns length of array MATRIX.

# ==> $RANDOM%${#MATRIX} returns random number between 1

# ==> and length of MATRIX - 1.

# ==> ${MATRIX:$(($RANDOM%${#MATRIX})):1}
# ==> returns expansion of MATRIX at random position, by length 1.
# ==> See {var:pos:len} parameter substitution in Section 3.3.1
# ==> and following examples.

# ==> PASS=... simply pastes this result onto previous PASS (concatenation).

# ==> To visualize this more clearly, uncomment the following line

# ==> echo "$PASS"
# ==> to see PASS being built up,
# ==> one character at a time, each iteration of the loop.

let n+=1

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# ==> Increment 'n' for next pass.

done

echo "$PASS" # ==> Or, redirect to file, as desired.

exit 0

James R. Van Zandt contributed this script, which uses named pipes and, in his words, "really exercises quoting and
escaping".

Example A-15. fifo: Making daily backups, using named pipes

#!/bin/bash
# ==> Script by James R. Van Zandt, and used here with his permission.

# ==> Comments added by author of this document.

HERE=`uname -n` # ==> hostname

THERE=bilbo
echo "starting remote backup to $THERE at `date +%r`"
# ==> `date +%r` returns time in 12-hour format, i.e. "08:08:34 PM".

# make sure /pipe really is a pipe and not a plain file

rm -rf /pipe
mkfifo /pipe # ==> Create a "named pipe", named "/pipe".

# ==> 'su xyz' runs commands as user "xyz".

# ==> 'ssh' invokes secure shell (remote login client).
su xyz -c "ssh $THERE \"cat >/home/xyz/backup/${HERE}-daily.tar.gz\" < /pipe"&
cd /
tar -czf - bin boot dev etc home info lib man root sbin share usr var >/pipe
# ==> Uses named pipe, /pipe, to communicate between processes:
# ==> 'tar/gzip' writes to /pipe and 'ssh' reads from /pipe.

# ==> The end result is this backs up the main directories, from / on down.

# ==> What are the advantages of a "named pipe" in this situation,

# ==> as opposed to an "anonymous pipe", with |?
# ==> Will an anonymous pipe even work here?

exit 0

Stephane Chazelas contributed the following script to demonstrate that generating prime numbers does not require arrays.

Example A-16. Generating prime numbers using the modulo operator

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Contributed Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# primes.sh: Generate prime numbers, without using arrays.
# Script contributed by Stephane Chazelas.

# This does *not* use the classic "Sieve of Eratosthenes" algorithm,

#+ but instead uses the more intuitive method of testing each candidate number
#+ for factors (divisors), using the "%" modulo operator.

LIMIT=1000 # Primes 2 - 1000

Primes()
{
(( n = $1 + 1 )) # Bump to next integer.
shift # Next parameter in list.
# echo "_n=$n i=$i_"

if (( n == LIMIT ))
then echo $*
return
fi

for i; do # "i" gets set to "@", previous values of $n.

# echo "-n=$n i=$i-"
(( i * i > n )) && break # Optimization.
(( n % i )) && continue # Sift out non-primes using modulo operator.
Primes $n $@ # Recursion inside loop.
return
done

Primes $n $@ $n # Recursion outside loop.

# Successively accumulate positional parameters.
# "$@" is the accumulating list of primes.
}

Primes 1

exit 0

# Uncomment lines 17 and 25 to help figure out what is going on.

# Compare the speed of this algorithm for generating primes

# with the Sieve of Eratosthenes (ex68.sh).

# Exercise: Rewrite this script without recursion, for faster execution.

Jordi Sanfeliu gave permission to use his elegant tree script.

Example A-17. tree: Displaying a directory tree

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Contributed Scripts

#!/bin/sh
# @(#) tree 1.1 30/11/95 by Jordi Sanfeliu
# email: [email protected]
#
# Initial version: 1.0 30/11/95
# Next version : 1.1 24/02/97 Now, with symbolic links
# Patch by : Ian Kjos, to support unsearchable dirs
# email: [email protected]
#
# Tree is a tool for view the directory tree (obvious :-) )
#

# ==> 'Tree' script used here with the permission of its author, Jordi Sanfeliu.
# ==> Comments added by the author of this document.
# ==> Argument quoting added.

search () {
for dir in `echo *`
# ==> `echo *` lists all the files in current working directory, without line
breaks.
# ==> Similar effect to for dir in *
# ==> but "dir in `echo *`" will not handle filenames with blanks.
do
if [ -d "$dir" ] ; then # ==> If it is a directory (-d)...
zz=0 # ==> Temp variable, keeping track of directory level.
while [ $zz != $deep ] # Keep track of inner nested loop.
do
echo -n "| " # ==> Display vertical connector symbol,
# ==> with 2 spaces & no line feed in order to indent.
zz=`expr $zz + 1` # ==> Increment zz.
done
if [ -L "$dir" ] ; then # ==> If directory is a symbolic link...
echo "+---$dir" `ls -l $dir | sed 's/^.*'$dir' //'`
# ==> Display horiz. connector and list directory name, but...
# ==> delete date/time part of long listing.
else
echo "+---$dir" # ==> Display horizontal connector symbol...
# ==> and print directory name.
if cd "$dir" ; then # ==> If can move to subdirectory...
deep=`expr $deep + 1` # ==> Increment depth.
search # with recursivity ;-)
# ==> Function calls itself.
numdirs=`expr $numdirs + 1` # ==> Increment directory count.
fi
fi
fi
done
cd .. # ==> Up one directory level.
if [ "$deep" ] ; then # ==> If depth = 0 (returns TRUE)...
swfi=1 # ==> set flag showing that search is done.
fi
deep=`expr $deep - 1` # ==> Decrement depth.
}

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Contributed Scripts

# - Main -
if [ $# = 0 ] ; then
cd `pwd` # ==> No args to script, then use current working directory.
else
cd $1 # ==> Otherwise, move to indicated directory.
fi
echo "Initial directory = `pwd`"
swfi=0 # ==> Search finished flag.
deep=0 # ==> Depth of listing.
numdirs=0
zz=0

while [ "$swfi" != 1 ] # While flag not set...

do
search # ==> Call function after initializing variables.
done
echo "Total directories = $numdirs"

exit 0
# ==> Challenge: try to figure out exactly how this script works.

Noah Friedman gave permission to use his string function script, which essentially reproduces some of the C-library string
manipulation functions.

Example A-18. string functions: C-like string functions

#!/bin/bash

# string.bash --- bash emulation of string(3) library routines

# Author: Noah Friedman <[email protected]>
# ==> Used with his kind permission in this document.
# Created: 1992-07-01
# Last modified: 1993-09-29
# Public domain

# Conversion to bash v2 syntax done by Chet Ramey

# Commentary:
# Code:

#:docstring strcat:
# Usage: strcat s1 s2
#
# Strcat appends the value of variable s2 to variable s1.
#
# Example:
# a="foo"
# b="bar"
# strcat a b
# echo $a
# => foobar
#
#:end docstring:

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Contributed Scripts

###;;;autoload ==> Autoloading of function commented out.

function strcat ()
{
local s1_val s2_val

s1_val=${!1} # indirect variable expansion

s2_val=${!2}
eval "$1"=\'"${s1_val}${s2_val}"\'
# ==> eval $1='${s1_val}${s2_val}' avoids problems,
# ==> if one of the variables contains a single quote.
}

#:docstring strncat:
# Usage: strncat s1 s2 $n
#
# Line strcat, but strncat appends a maximum of n characters from the value
# of variable s2. It copies fewer if the value of variabl s2 is shorter
# than n characters. Echoes result on stdout.
#
# Example:
# a=foo
# b=barbaz
# strncat a b 3
# echo $a
# => foobar
#
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strncat ()
{
local s1="$1"
local s2="$2"
local -i n="$3"
local s1_val s2_val

s1_val=${!s1} # ==> indirect variable expansion

s2_val=${!s2}

if [ ${#s2_val} -gt ${n} ]; then

s2_val=${s2_val:0:$n} # ==> substring extraction
fi

eval "$s1"=\'"${s1_val}${s2_val}"\'
# ==> eval $1='${s1_val}${s2_val}' avoids problems,
# ==> if one of the variables contains a single quote.
}

#:docstring strcmp:
# Usage: strcmp $s1 $s2
#
# Strcmp compares its arguments and returns an integer less than, equal to,
# or greater than zero, depending on whether string s1 is lexicographically
# less than, equal to, or greater than string s2.
#:end docstring:

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Contributed Scripts

###;;;autoload
function strcmp ()
{
[ "$1" = "$2" ] && return 0

[ "${1}" '<' "${2}" ] > /dev/null && return -1

return 1
}

#:docstring strncmp:
# Usage: strncmp $s1 $s2 $n
#
# Like strcmp, but makes the comparison by examining a maximum of n
# characters (n less than or equal to zero yields equality).
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strncmp ()
{
if [ -z "${3}" -o "${3}" -le "0" ]; then
return 0
fi

if [ ${3} -ge ${#1} -a ${3} -ge ${#2} ]; then

strcmp "$1" "$2"
return $?
else
s1=${1:0:$3}
s2=${2:0:$3}
strcmp $s1 $s2
return $?
fi
}

#:docstring strlen:
# Usage: strlen s
#
# Strlen returns the number of characters in string literal s.
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strlen ()
{
eval echo "\${#${1}}"
# ==> Returns the length of the value of the variable
# ==> whose name is passed as an argument.
}

#:docstring strspn:
# Usage: strspn $s1 $s2
#
# Strspn returns the length of the maximum initial segment of string s1,
# which consists entirely of characters from string s2.
#:end docstring:

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Contributed Scripts

###;;;autoload
function strspn ()
{
# Unsetting IFS allows whitespace to be handled as normal chars.
local IFS=
local result="${1%%[!${2}]*}"

echo ${#result}
}

#:docstring strcspn:
# Usage: strcspn $s1 $s2
#
# Strcspn returns the length of the maximum initial segment of string s1,
# which consists entirely of characters not from string s2.
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strcspn ()
{
# Unsetting IFS allows whitspace to be handled as normal chars.
local IFS=
local result="${1%%[${2}]*}"

echo ${#result}
}

#:docstring strstr:
# Usage: strstr s1 s2
#
# Strstr echoes a substring starting at the first occurrence of string s2 in
# string s1, or nothing if s2 does not occur in the string. If s2 points to
# a string of zero length, strstr echoes s1.
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strstr ()
{
# if s2 points to a string of zero length, strstr echoes s1
[ ${#2} -eq 0 ] && { echo "$1" ; return 0; }

# strstr echoes nothing if s2 does not occur in s1

case "$1" in
*$2*) ;;
*) return 1;;
esac

# use the pattern matching code to strip off the match and everything
# following it
first=${1/$2*/}

# then strip off the first unmatched portion of the string

echo "${1##$first}"
}

#:docstring strtok:

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Contributed Scripts

# Usage: strtok s1 s2
#
# Strtok considers the string s1 to consist of a sequence of zero or more
# text tokens separated by spans of one or more characters from the
# separator string s2. The first call (with a non-empty string s1
# specified) echoes a string consisting of the first token on stdout. The
# function keeps track of its position in the string s1 between separate
# calls, so that subsequent calls made with the first argument an empty
# string will work through the string immediately following that token. In
# this way subsequent calls will work through the string s1 until no tokens
# remain. The separator string s2 may be different from call to call.
# When no token remains in s1, an empty value is echoed on stdout.
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strtok ()
{
:
}

#:docstring strtrunc:
# Usage: strtrunc $n $s1 {$s2} {$...}
#
# Used by many functions like strncmp to truncate arguments for comparison.
# Echoes the first n characters of each string s1 s2 ... on stdout.
#:end docstring:

###;;;autoload
function strtrunc ()
{
n=$1 ; shift
for z; do
echo "${z:0:$n}"
done
}

# provide string

# string.bash ends here

# ========================================================================== #
# ==> Everything below here added by the document author.

# ==> Suggested use of this script is to delete everything below here,

# ==> and "source" this file into your own scripts.

# strcat
string0=one
string1=two
echo
echo "Testing \"strcat\" function:"
echo "Original \"string0\" = $string0"
echo "\"string1\" = $string1"
strcat string0 string1
echo "New \"string0\" = $string0"

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Contributed Scripts

echo

# strlen
echo
echo "Testing \"strlen\" function:"
str=123456789
echo "\"str\" = $str"
echo -n "Length of \"str\" = "
strlen str
echo

# Exercise:
# --------
# Add code to test all the other string functions above.

exit 0

Stephane Chazelas demonstrates object-oriented programming a Bash script.

Example A-19. Object-oriented database

#!/bin/bash
# obj-oriented.sh: Object-oriented programming in a shell script.
# Script by Stephane Chazelas.

person.new() # Looks almost like a class declaration in C++.

{
local obj_name=$1 name=$2 firstname=$3 birthdate=$4

eval "$obj_name.set_name() {
eval \"$obj_name.get_name() {
echo \$1
}\"
}"

eval "$obj_name.set_firstname() {
eval \"$obj_name.get_firstname() {
echo \$1
}\"
}"

eval "$obj_name.set_birthdate() {
eval \"$obj_name.get_birthdate() {
echo \$1
}\"
eval \"$obj_name.show_birthdate() {
echo \$(date -d \"1/1/1970 0:0:\$1 GMT\")
}\"
eval \"$obj_name.get_age() {
echo \$(( (\$(date +%s) - \$1) / 3600 / 24 / 365 ))
}\"

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Contributed Scripts

}"

$obj_name.set_name $name
$obj_name.set_firstname $firstname
$obj_name.set_birthdate $birthdate
}

echo

person.new self Bozeman Bozo 101272413

# Create an instance of "person.new" (actually passing args to the function).

self.get_firstname # Bozo
self.get_name # Bozeman
self.get_age # 28
self.get_birthdate # 101272413
self.show_birthdate # Sat Mar 17 20:13:33 MST 1973

echo

# typeset -f
# to see the created functions (careful, it scrolls off the page).

exit 0

Prev Home Next

Bibliography A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer

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Sed

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Appendix B. A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer Next

B.1. Sed
Sed is a non-interactive line editor. It receives text input, whether from stdin or from a file, performs certain operations on
specified lines of the input, one line at a time, then outputs the result to stdout or to a file. Within a shell script, sed is
usually one of several tool components in a pipe.

Sed determines which lines of its input that it will operate on from the address range passed to it. [1] Specify this address
range either by line number or by a pattern to match. For example, 3d signals sed to delete line 3 of the input, and
/windows/d tells sed that you want every line of the input containing a match to "windows" deleted.

Of all the operations in the sed toolkit, we will focus primarily on the three most commonly used ones. These are printing (to
stdout), deletion, and substitution.

Table B-1. Basic sed operators

Operator Name Effect

[address-range]/p print Print [specified address range]
[address-range]/d delete Delete [specified address range]
s/pattern1/pattern2/ substitute Substitute pattern2 for first instance of pattern1 in a line
[address-range]/s/pattern1/pattern2/ substitute Substitute pattern2 for first instance of pattern1 in a line,
over address-range
[address-range]/y/pattern1/pattern2/ transform replace any character in pattern1 with the corresponding
character in pattern2, over address-range (equivalent
of tr)
g global Operate on every pattern match within each matched line
of input

Unless the g (global) operator is appended to a substitute command, the substitution operates only on the first instance
of a pattern match within each line.

From the command line and in a shell script, a sed operation may require quoting and certain options.

sed -e '/^$/d' $filename

# The -e option causes the next string to be interpreted as an editing instruction.
# (If passing only a single instruction to "sed", the "-e" is optional.)
# The "strong" quotes ('') protect the RE characters in the instruction
#+ from reinterpretation as special characters by the body of the script.
# (This reserves RE expansion of the instruction for sed.)
#
# Operates on the text contained in file $filename.

Sed uses the -e option to specify that the following string is an instruction or set of instructions. If there is only a
single instruction contained in the string, then this option may be omitted.

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Sed

sed -n '/xzy/p' $filename

# The -n option tells sed to print only those lines matching the pattern.
# Otherwise all input lines would print.
# The -e option not necessary here since there is only a single editing instruction.

Table B-2. Examples

Notation Effect
8d Delete 8th line of input.
/^$/d Delete all blank lines.
1,/^$/d Delete from beginning of input up to, and including first blank line.
/Jones/p Print only lines containing "Jones" (with -n option).
s/Windows/Linux/ Substitute "Linux" for first instance of "Windows" found in each input line.
s/BSOD/stability/g Substitute "stability" for every instance of "BSOD" found in each input line.
s/ *$// Delete all spaces at the end of every line.
s/00*/0/g Compress all consecutive sequences of zeroes into a single zero.
/GUI/d Delete all lines containing "GUI".
s/GUI//g Delete all instances of "GUI", leaving the remainder of each line intact.

Substituting a zero-length string for another is equivalent to deleting that string within a line of input. This leaves the
remainder of the line intact. Applying s/GUI// to the line

The most important parts of any application are its GUI and sound effects

results in
The most important parts of any application are its and sound effects

The backslash represents a newline as a substitution character. In this special case, the replacement expression continues on
the next line.

s/^ */\
/g

This substitution replaces line-beginning spaces with a newline. The net result is to replace paragraph indents with a blank line
between paragraphs.

An address range followed by one or more operations may require open and closed curly brackets, with appropriate newlines.

/[0-9A-Za-z]/,/^$/{
/^$/d
}

This deletes only the first of each set of consecutive blank lines. That might be useful for single-spacing a text file, but
retaining the blank line(s) between paragraphs.

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Sed

A quick way to double-space a text file is sed G filename.

For illustrative examples of sed within shell scripts, see:

1. Example 34-1
2. Example 34-2
3. Example 12-2
4. Example A-3
5. Example 12-12
6. Example 12-20
7. Example A-12
8. Example A-17
9. Example 12-24
10. Example 10-9
11. Example 12-33
12. Example A-2
13. Example 12-10
14. Example 12-8
15. Example A-10
16. Example 17-11

For a more extensive treatment of sed, check the appropriate references in the Bibliography.

Notes

[1] If no address range is specified, the default is all lines.

Prev Home Next

A Sed and Awk Micro-Primer Up Awk

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Exit Codes With Special Meanings

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix C. Exit Codes With

Special Meanings
Table C-1. "Reserved" Exit Codes

Exit Code Meaning Example Comments

Number
1 catchall for general errors let "var1 = 1/0" miscellaneous errors,
such as "divide by zero"
2 misuse of shell builtins, Seldom seen, usually
according to Bash defaults to exit code 1
documentation
126 command invoked cannot permission problem or
execute command is not an
executable
127 "command not found" possible problem with
$PATH or a typo
128 invalid argument to exit exit 3.14159 exit takes only integer
args in the range 0 - 255
128+n fatal error signal "n" kill -9 $PPID of $? returns 137 (128 + 9)
script
130 script terminated by Control-C is fatal error
Control-C signal 2, (130 = 128 + 2,
see above)
255* exit status out of range exit -1 exit takes only integer
args in the range 0 - 255

According to the table, exit codes 1 - 2, 126 - 165, and 255 [1] have special meanings, and
should therefore be avoided as user-specified exit parameters. Ending a script with exit 127
would certainly cause confusion when troubleshooting (is the error a "command not found"

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Exit Codes With Special Meanings

or a user-defined one?). However, many scripts use an exit 1 as a general bailout upon error.
Since exit code 1 signifies so many possible errors, this might not add any additional
ambiguity, but, on the other hand, it probably would not be very informative either.

There has been an attempt to systematize exit status numbers (see

/usr/include/sysexits.h), but this is intended for C and C++ programmers. A
similar standard for scripting might be appropriate. The author of this document proposes
restricting user-defined exit codes to the range 64 - 113 (in addition to 0, for success), to
conform with the C/C++ standard. This would allot 50 valid codes, and make
troubleshooting scripts more straightforward.

All user-defined exit codes in the accompanying examples to this document now conform to
this standard, except where overriding circumstances exist, as in Example 9-2.

Issuing a $? from the command line after a shell script exits gives results consistent
with the table above only from the Bash or sh prompt. Running the C-shell or tcsh
may give different values in some cases.

Notes

[1] Out of range exit values can result in unpredictable exit codes. For example, exit 3809
gives an exit code of 225.

Prev Home Next

Awk A Detailed Introduction to I/O
and I/O Redirection

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A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O Redirection

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix D. A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O

Redirection
written by Stephane Chazelas, and revised by the document author

A command expects the first three file descriptors to be available. The first, fd 0 (standard input, stdin), is for reading. The
other two (fd 1, stdout and fd 2, stderr) are for writing.

There is a stdin, stdout, and a stderr associated with each command. ls 2>&1 means temporarily connecting the
stderr of the ls command to the same "resource" as the shell's stdout.

By convention, a command reads its input from fd 0 (stdin), prints normal output to fd 1 (stdout), and error ouput to fd 2
(stderr). If one of those three fd's is not open, you may encounter problems:

bash$ cat /etc/passwd >&-

cat: standard output: Bad file descriptor

For example, when xterm runs, it first initializes itself. Before running the user's shell, xterm opens the terminal device
(/dev/pts/<n> or something similar) three times.

At this point, Bash inherits these three file descriptors, and each command (child process) run by Bash inherits them in turn,
except when you redirect the command. Redirection means reassigning one of the file descriptors to another file (or a pipe, or
anything permissible). File descriptors may be reassigned locally (for a command, a command group, a subshell, a while or if or
case or for loop...), or globally, for the remainder of the shell (using exec).

ls > /dev/null means running ls with its fd 1 connected to /dev/null.

bash$ lsof -a -p $$ -d0,1,2

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
bash 363 bozo 0u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1
bash 363 bozo 1u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1
bash 363 bozo 2u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1

bash$ exec 2> /dev/null

bash$ lsof -a -p $$ -d0,1,2
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
bash 371 bozo 0u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1
bash 371 bozo 1u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1
bash 371 bozo 2w CHR 1,3 120 /dev/null

bash$ bash -c 'lsof -a -p $$ -d0,1,2' | cat

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
lsof 379 root 0u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1

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A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O Redirection

lsof 379 root 1w FIFO 0,0 7118 pipe

lsof 379 root 2u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1

bash$ echo "$(bash -c 'lsof -a -p $$ -d0,1,2' 2>&1)"

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE NODE NAME
lsof 426 root 0u CHR 136,1 3 /dev/pts/1
lsof 426 root 1w FIFO 0,0 7520 pipe
lsof 426 root 2w FIFO 0,0 7520 pipe

This works for different types of redirection.

Exercise: Analyze the following script.

#! /usr/bin/env bash

mkfifo /tmp/fifo1 /tmp/fifo2

while read a; do echo "FIFO1: $a"; done < /tmp/fifo1 &
exec 7> /tmp/fifo1
exec 8> >(while read a; do echo "FD8: $a, to fd7"; done >&7)

exec 3>&1
(
(
(
while read a; do echo "FIFO2: $a"; done < /tmp/fifo2 | tee /dev/stderr | tee
/dev/fd/4 | tee /dev/fd/5 | tee /dev/fd/6 >&7 &
exec 3> /tmp/fifo2

echo 1st, to stdout

sleep 1
echo 2nd, to stderr >&2
sleep 1
echo 3rd, to fd 3 >&3
sleep 1
echo 4th, to fd 4 >&4
sleep 1
echo 5th, to fd 5 >&5
sleep 1
echo 6th, through a pipe | sed 's/.*/PIPE: &, to fd 5/' >&5
sleep 1
echo 7th, to fd 6 >&6
sleep 1
echo 8th, to fd 7 >&7
sleep 1
echo 9th, to fd 8 >&8

) 4>&1 >&3 3>&- | while read a; do echo "FD4: $a"; done 1>&3 5>&- 6>&-
) 5>&1 >&3 | while read a; do echo "FD5: $a"; done 1>&3 6>&-
) 6>&1 >&3 | while read a; do echo "FD6: $a"; done 3>&-

rm -f /tmp/fifo1 /tmp/fifo2

# For each command and subshell, figure out which fd points to what.

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A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O Redirection

exit 0

Prev Home Next

Exit Codes With Special Meanings Localization

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Localization

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix E. Localization
Localization is an undocumented Bash feature.

A localized shell script echoes its text output in the language defined as the system's locale.
A Linux user in Berlin, Germany, would get script output in German, whereas his cousin in
Berlin, Maryland, would get output from the same script in English.

To create a localized script, use the following template to write all messages to the user
(error messages, prompts, etc.).

#!/bin/bash
# localized.sh

E_CDERROR=65

error()
{
printf "$@" >&2
exit $E_CDERROR
}

cd $var || error $"Can't cd to %s." "$var"

read -p $"Enter the value: " var
# ...

bash$ bash -D localized.sh

"Can't cd to %s."
"Enter the value: "

This lists all the localized text. (The -D option lists double-quoted strings prefixed by a $,
without executing the script.)

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Localization

bash$ bash --dump-po-strings localized.sh

#: a:6
msgid "Can't cd to %s."
msgstr ""
#: a:7
msgid "Enter the value: "
msgstr ""

The --dump-po-strings option to Bash resembles the -D option, but uses gettext "po"
format.

Now, build a language.po file for each language that the script will be translated into,
specifying the msgstr. As an example:

fr.po:

#: a:6
msgid "Can't cd to %s."
msgstr "Impossible de se positionner dans le répertoire %s."
#: a:7
msgid "Enter the value: "
msgstr "Entrez la valeur : "

Then, run msgfmt.

msgfmt -o localized.sh.mo fr.po

Place the resulting localized.sh.mo file in the

/usr/local/share/locale/fr/LC_MESSAGES directory, and at the beginning of
the script, insert the lines:

TEXTDOMAINDIR=/usr/local/share/locale
TEXTDOMAIN=localized.sh

If a user on a French system runs the script, she will get French messages.

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Localization

With older versions of Bash or other shells, localization requires gettext, using the -
s option. In this case, the script becomes:

#!/bin/bash
# localized.sh

E_CDERROR=65

error() {
local format=$1
shift
printf "$(gettext -s "$format")" "$@" >&2
exit $E_CDERROR
}
cd $var || error "Can't cd to %s." "$var"
read -p "$(gettext -s "Enter the value: ")" var
# ...

The TEXTDOMAIN and TEXTDOMAINDIR variables need to be exported to the

environment.

---

This appendix written by Stephane Chazelas.

Prev Home Next

A Detailed Introduction to I/O History Commands
and I/O Redirection

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History Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix F. History Commands

The Bash shell provides command-line tools for editing and manipulating a user's command
history. This is primarily a convenience, a means of saving keystrokes.

Bash history commands:

1. history

2. fc

bash$ history
1 mount /mnt/cdrom
2 cd /mnt/cdrom
3 ls
...

Internal variables associated with Bash history commands:

1. $HISTCMD

2. $HISTCONTROL

3. $HISTIGNORE

4. $HISTFILE

5. $HISTFILESIZE

6. $HISTSIZE

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History Commands

7. !!

8. !$

9. !#

10. !N

11. !-N

12. !STRING

13. !?STRING?

14. ^STRING^string^

Unfortunately, the Bash history tools find no use in scripting.

#!/bin/bash
# history.sh
# Attempt to use 'history' command in a script.

history

# Script produces no output.

# History commands do not work within a script.

bash$ ./history.sh
(no output)

Prev Home Next

Localization A Sample .bashrc File

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A Sample .bashrc File

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix G. A Sample .bashrc File

The ~/.bashrc file determines the behavior of interactive shells. A good look at this file can lead to a better understanding of
Bash.

Emmanuel Rouat contributed the following very elaborate .bashrc file, written for a Linux system. He welcomes reader
feedback on it.

Study the file carefully, and feel free to reuse code snippets and functions from it in your own .bashrc file or even in your
scripts.

Example G-1. Sample .bashrc file

#===============================================================
#
# PERSONAL $HOME/.bashrc FILE for bash-2.05 (or later)
#
# This file is read (normally) by interactive shells only.
# Here is the place to define your aliases, functions and
# other interactive features like your prompt.
#
# This file was designed (originally) for Solaris.
# --> Modified for Linux.
# This bashrc file is a bit overcrowded - remember it is just
# just an example. Tailor it to your needs
#
#===============================================================

# --> Comments added by HOWTO author.

#-----------------------------------
# Source global definitions (if any)
#-----------------------------------

if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
. /etc/bashrc # --> Read /etc/bashrc, if present.
fi

#-------------------------------------------------------------
# Automatic setting of $DISPLAY (if not set already)
# This works for linux and solaris - your mileage may vary....
#-------------------------------------------------------------

if [ -z ${DISPLAY:=""} ]; then
DISPLAY=$(who am i)
DISPLAY=${DISPLAY%%\!*}
if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
export DISPLAY=$DISPLAY:0.0
else
export DISPLAY=":0.0" # fallback

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A Sample .bashrc File

fi
fi

#---------------
# Some settings
#---------------

set -o notify
set -o noclobber
set -o ignoreeof
set -o nounset
#set -o xtrace # useful for debuging

shopt -s cdspell
shopt -s cdable_vars
shopt -s checkhash
shopt -s checkwinsize
shopt -s mailwarn
shopt -s sourcepath
shopt -s no_empty_cmd_completion
shopt -s histappend histreedit
shopt -s extglob # useful for programmable completion

#-----------------------
# Greeting, motd etc...
#-----------------------

# Define some colors first:

red='\e[0;31m'
RED='\e[1;31m'
blue='\e[0;34m'
BLUE='\e[1;34m'
cyan='\e[0;36m'
CYAN='\e[1;36m'
NC='\e[0m' # No Color
# --> Nice. Has the same effect as using "ansi.sys" in DOS.

# Looks best on a black background.....

echo -e "${CYAN}This is BASH ${RED}${BASH_VERSION%.*}${CYAN} - DISPLAY on
${RED}$DISPLAY${NC}\n"
date
if [ -x /usr/games/fortune ]; then
/usr/games/fortune -s # makes our day a bit more fun.... :-)
fi

function _exit() # function to run upon exit of shell

{
echo -e "${RED}Hasta la vista, baby${NC}"
}
trap _exit 0

#---------------
# Shell prompt
#---------------

function fastprompt()
{

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A Sample .bashrc File

unset PROMPT_COMMAND
case $TERM in
*term | rxvt )
PS1="[\h] \W > \[\033]0;[\u@\h] \w\007\]" ;;
*)
PS1="[\h] \W > " ;;
esac
}

function powerprompt()
{
_powerprompt()
{
LOAD=$(uptime|sed -e "s/.*: \([^,]*\).*/\1/" -e "s/ //g")
TIME=$(date +%H:%M)
}

PROMPT_COMMAND=_powerprompt
case $TERM in
*term | rxvt )
PS1="${cyan}[\$TIME \$LOAD]$NC\n[\h \#] \W > \[\033]0;[\u@\h] \w\007\]"
;;
linux )
PS1="${cyan}[\$TIME - \$LOAD]$NC\n[\h \#] \w > " ;;
* )
PS1="[\$TIME - \$LOAD]\n[\h \#] \w > " ;;
esac
}

powerprompt # this is the default prompt - might be slow

# If too slow, use fastprompt instead....

#===============================================================
#
# ALIASES AND FUNCTIONS
#
# Arguably, some functions defined here are quite big
# (ie 'lowercase') but my workstation has 512Meg of RAM, so .....
# If you want to make this file smaller, these functions can
# be converted into scripts.
#
# Many functions were taken (almost) straight from the bash-2.04
# examples.
#
#===============================================================

#-------------------
# Personnal Aliases
#-------------------

alias rm='rm -i'

alias cp='cp -i'
alias mv='mv -i'
# -> Prevents accidentally clobbering files.

alias h='history'

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A Sample .bashrc File

alias j='jobs -l'

alias r='rlogin'
alias which='type -all'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'
alias print='/usr/bin/lp -o nobanner -d $LPDEST' # Assumes LPDEST is defined
alias pjet='enscript -h -G -fCourier9 -d $LPDEST' # Pretty-print using enscript
alias background='xv -root -quit -max -rmode 5' # put a picture in the background
alias vi='vim'
alias du='du -h'
alias df='df -kh'

# The 'ls' family (this assumes you use the GNU ls)
alias ls='ls -hF --color' # add colors for filetype recognition
alias lx='ls -lXB' # sort by extension
alias lk='ls -lSr' # sort by size
alias la='ls -Al' # show hidden files
alias lr='ls -lR' # recursice ls
alias lt='ls -ltr' # sort by date
alias lm='ls -al |more' # pipe through 'more'
alias tree='tree -Cs' # nice alternative to 'ls'

# tailoring 'less'
alias more='less'
export PAGER=less
export LESSCHARSET='latin1'
export LESSOPEN='|/usr/bin/lesspipe.sh %s 2>&-' # Use this if lesspipe.sh exists
export LESS='-i -N -w -z-4 -g -e -M -X -F -R -P%t?f%f \
:stdin .?pb%pb\%:?lbLine %lb:?bbByte %bb:-...'

# spelling typos - highly personnal :-)

alias xs='cd'
alias vf='cd'
alias moer='more'
alias moew='more'
alias kk='ll'

#----------------
# a few fun ones
#----------------

function xtitle ()
{
case $TERM in
*term | rxvt)
echo -n -e "\033]0;$*\007" ;;
*) ;;
esac
}

# aliases...
alias top='xtitle Processes on $HOST && top'
alias make='xtitle Making $(basename $PWD) ; make'
alias ncftp="xtitle ncFTP ; ncftp"

# .. and functions

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A Sample .bashrc File

function man ()
{
xtitle The $(basename $1|tr -d .[:digit:]) manual
man -a "$*"
}

function ll(){ ls -l "$@"| egrep "^d" ; ls -lXB "$@" 2>&-| egrep -v "^d|total "; }
function xemacs() { { command xemacs -private $* 2>&- & } && disown ;}
function te() # wrapper around xemacs/gnuserv
{
if [ "$(gnuclient -batch -eval t 2>&-)" == "t" ]; then
gnuclient -q "$@";
else
( xemacs "$@" & );
fi
}

#-----------------------------------
# File & strings related functions:
#-----------------------------------

function ff() { find . -name '*'$1'*' ; } # find a file

function fe() { find . -name '*'$1'*' -exec $2 {} \; ; } # find a file and run $2 on
it
function fstr() # find a string in a set of files
{
if [ "$#" -gt 2 ]; then
echo "Usage: fstr \"pattern\" [files] "
return;
fi
SMSO=$(tput smso)
RMSO=$(tput rmso)
find . -type f -name "${2:-*}" -print | xargs grep -sin "$1" | \
sed "s/$1/$SMSO$1$RMSO/gI"
}

function cuttail() # cut last n lines in file, 10 by default

{
nlines=${2:-10}
sed -n -e :a -e "1,${nlines}!{P;N;D;};N;ba" $1
}

function lowercase() # move filenames to lowercase

{
for file ; do
filename=${file##*/}
case "$filename" in
*/*) dirname==${file%/*} ;;
*) dirname=.;;
esac
nf=$(echo $filename | tr A-Z a-z)
newname="${dirname}/${nf}"
if [ "$nf" != "$filename" ]; then
mv "$file" "$newname"
echo "lowercase: $file --> $newname"
else

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A Sample .bashrc File

echo "lowercase: $file not changed."

fi
done
}

function swap() # swap 2 filenames around

{
local TMPFILE=tmp.$$
mv $1 $TMPFILE
mv $2 $1
mv $TMPFILE $2
}

#-----------------------------------
# Process/system related functions:
#-----------------------------------

function my_ps() { ps $@ -u $USER -o pid,%cpu,%mem,bsdtime,command ; }

function pp() { my_ps f | awk '!/awk/ && $0~var' var=${1:-".*"} ; }

# This function is roughly the same as 'killall' on linux

# but has no equivalent (that I know of) on Solaris
function killps() # kill by process name
{
local pid pname sig="-TERM" # default signal
if [ "$#" -lt 1 ] || [ "$#" -gt 2 ]; then
echo "Usage: killps [-SIGNAL] pattern"
return;
fi
if [ $# = 2 ]; then sig=$1 ; fi
for pid in $(my_ps| awk '!/awk/ && $0~pat { print $1 }' pat=${!#} ) ; do
pname=$(my_ps | awk '$1~var { print $5 }' var=$pid )
if ask "Kill process $pid <$pname> with signal $sig?"
then kill $sig $pid
fi
done
}

function my_ip() # get IP adresses

{
MY_IP=$(/sbin/ifconfig ppp0 | awk '/inet/ { print $2 } ' | sed -e s/addr://)
MY_ISP=$(/sbin/ifconfig ppp0 | awk '/P-t-P/ { print $3 } ' | sed -e s/P-t-P://)
}

function ii() # get current host related info

{
echo -e "\nYou are logged on ${RED}$HOST"
echo -e "\nAdditionnal information:$NC " ; uname -a
echo -e "\n${RED}Users logged on:$NC " ; w -h
echo -e "\n${RED}Current date :$NC " ; date
echo -e "\n${RED}Machine stats :$NC " ; uptime
echo -e "\n${RED}Memory stats :$NC " ; free
my_ip 2>&- ;
echo -e "\n${RED}Local IP Address :$NC" ; echo ${MY_IP:-"Not connected"}
echo -e "\n${RED}ISP Address :$NC" ; echo ${MY_ISP:-"Not connected"}
echo

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A Sample .bashrc File

# Misc utilities:

function repeat() # repeat n times command

{
local i max
max=$1; shift;
for ((i=1; i <= max ; i++)); do # --> C-like syntax
eval "$@";
done
}

function ask()
{
echo -n "$@" '[y/n] ' ; read ans
case "$ans" in
y*|Y*) return 0 ;;
*) return 1 ;;
esac
}

#=========================================================================
#
# PROGRAMMABLE COMPLETION - ONLY SINCE BASH-2.04
# (Most are taken from the bash 2.05 documentation)
# You will in fact need bash-2.05 for some features
#
#=========================================================================

if [ "${BASH_VERSION%.*}" \< "2.05" ]; then

echo "You will need to upgrade to version 2.05 for programmable completion"
return
fi

shopt -s extglob # necessary

set +o nounset # otherwise some completions will fail

complete -A hostname rsh rcp telnet rlogin r ftp ping disk

complete -A command nohup exec eval trace gdb
complete -A command command type which
complete -A export printenv
complete -A variable export local readonly unset
complete -A enabled builtin
complete -A alias alias unalias
complete -A function function
complete -A user su mail finger

complete -A helptopic help # currently same as builtins

complete -A shopt shopt
complete -A stopped -P '%' bg
complete -A job -P '%' fg jobs disown

complete -A directory mkdir rmdir

complete -A directory -o default cd

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A Sample .bashrc File

complete -f -d -X '*.gz' gzip

complete -f -d -X '*.bz2' bzip2
complete -f -o default -X '!*.gz' gunzip
complete -f -o default -X '!*.bz2' bunzip2
complete -f -o default -X '!*.pl' perl perl5
complete -f -o default -X '!*.ps' gs ghostview ps2pdf ps2ascii
complete -f -o default -X '!*.dvi' dvips dvipdf xdvi dviselect dvitype
complete -f -o default -X '!*.pdf' acroread pdf2ps
complete -f -o default -X '!*.+(pdf|ps)' gv
complete -f -o default -X '!*.texi*' makeinfo texi2dvi texi2html texi2pdf
complete -f -o default -X '!*.tex' tex latex slitex
complete -f -o default -X '!*.lyx' lyx
complete -f -o default -X '!*.+(jpg|gif|xpm|png|bmp)' xv gimp
complete -f -o default -X '!*.mp3' mpg123
complete -f -o default -X '!*.ogg' ogg123

# This is a 'universal' completion function - it works when commands have

# a so-called 'long options' mode , ie: 'ls --all' instead of 'ls -a'
_universal_func ()
{
case "$2" in
-*) ;;
*) return ;;
esac

case "$1" in
\~*) eval cmd=$1 ;;
*) cmd="$1" ;;
esac
COMPREPLY=( $("$cmd" --help | sed -e '/--/!d' -e 's/.*--\([^ ]*\).*/--\1/'| \
grep ^"$2" |sort -u) )
}
complete -o default -F _universal_func ldd wget bash id info

_make_targets ()
{
local mdef makef gcmd cur prev i

COMPREPLY=()
cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}
prev=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}

# if prev argument is -f, return possible filename completions.

# we could be a little smarter here and return matches against
# `makefile Makefile *.mk', whatever exists
case "$prev" in
-*f) COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -f $cur ) ); return 0;;
esac

# if we want an option, return the possible posix options

case "$cur" in
-) COMPREPLY=(-e -f -i -k -n -p -q -r -S -s -t); return 0;;
esac

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A Sample .bashrc File

# make reads `makefile' before `Makefile'

if [ -f makefile ]; then
mdef=makefile
elif [ -f Makefile ]; then
mdef=Makefile
else
mdef=*.mk # local convention
fi

# before we scan for targets, see if a makefile name was specified

# with -f
for (( i=0; i < ${#COMP_WORDS[@]}; i++ )); do
if [[ ${COMP_WORDS[i]} == -*f ]]; then
eval makef=${COMP_WORDS[i+1]} # eval for tilde expansion
break
fi
done

[ -z "$makef" ] && makef=$mdef

# if we have a partial word to complete, restrict completions to

# matches of that word
if [ -n "$2" ]; then gcmd='grep "^$2"' ; else gcmd=cat ; fi

# if we don't want to use *.mk, we can take out the cat and use
# test -f $makef and input redirection
COMPREPLY=( $(cat $makef 2>/dev/null | awk 'BEGIN {FS=":"} /^[^.# ][^=]*:/
{print $1}' | tr -s ' ' '\012' | sort -u | eval $gcmd ) )
}

complete -F _make_targets -X '+($*|*.[cho])' make gmake pmake

_configure_func ()
{
case "$2" in
-*) ;;
*) return ;;
esac

case "$1" in
\~*) eval cmd=$1 ;;
*) cmd="$1" ;;
esac

COMPREPLY=( $("$cmd" --help | awk '{if ($1 ~ /--.*/) print $1}' | grep ^"$2" |
sort -u) )
}

complete -F _configure_func configure

# cvs(1) completion
_cvs ()
{
local cur prev
COMPREPLY=()
cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}
prev=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}

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A Sample .bashrc File

if [ $COMP_CWORD -eq 1 ] || [ "${prev:0:1}" = "-" ]; then

COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W 'add admin checkout commit diff \
export history import log rdiff release remove rtag status \
tag update' $cur ))
else
COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -f $cur ))
fi
return 0
}
complete -F _cvs cvs

_killall ()
{
local cur prev
COMPREPLY=()
cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}

# get a list of processes (the first sed evaluation

# takes care of swapped out processes, the second
# takes care of getting the basename of the process)
COMPREPLY=( $( /usr/bin/ps -u $USER -o comm | \
sed -e '1,1d' -e 's#[]\[]##g' -e 's#^.*/##'| \
awk '{if ($0 ~ /^'$cur'/) print $0}' ))

return 0
}

complete -F _killall killall killps

# Local Variables:
# mode:shell-script
# sh-shell:bash
# End:

Prev Home Next

History Commands Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell
Scripts

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Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix H. Converting DOS Batch

Files to Shell Scripts
Quite a number of programmers learned scripting on a PC running DOS. Even the crippled
DOS batch file language allowed writing some fairly powerful scripts and applications,
though they often required extensive kludges and workarounds. Occasionally, the need still
arises to convert an old DOS batch file to a UNIX shell script. This is generally not difficult,
as DOS batch file operators are only a limited subset of the equivalent shell scripting ones.

Table H-1. Batch file keywords / variables / operators, and their shell equivalents

Batch File Operator Shell Script Equivalent Meaning

% $ command-line parameter
prefix
/ - command option flag
\ / directory path separator
== = (equal-to) string comparison
test
!==! != (not equal-to) string
comparison test
| | pipe
@ set +v do not echo current command
* * filename "wild card"
> > file redirection (overwrite)
>> >> file redirection (append)
< < redirect stdin
%VAR% $VAR environmental variable
REM # comment

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Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts

NOT ! negate following test

NUL /dev/null "black hole" for burying
command output
ECHO echo echo (many more option in
Bash)
ECHO. echo echo blank line
ECHO OFF set +v do not echo command(s)
following
FOR %%VAR IN (LIST) for var in [list]; do "for" loop
DO
:LABEL none (unnecessary) label
GOTO none (use a function) jump to another location in the
script
PAUSE sleep pause or wait an interval
CHOICE case or select menu choice
IF if if-test
IF EXIST FILENAME if [ -e filename ] test if file exists
IF !%N==! if [ -z "$N" ] if replaceable parameter "N"
not present
CALL source or . (dot operator) "include" another script
COMMAND /C source or . (dot operator) "include" another script (same
as CALL)
SET export set an environmental variable
SHIFT shift left shift command-line
argument list
SGN -lt or -gt sign (of integer)
ERRORLEVEL $? exit status
CON stdin "console" (stdin)
PRN /dev/lp0 (generic) printer device
LPT1 /dev/lp0 first printer device
COM1 /dev/ttyS0 first serial port

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Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts

Batch files usually contain DOS commands. These must be translated into their UNIX
equivalents in order to convert a batch file into a shell script.

Table H-2. DOS Commands and Their UNIX Equivalents

DOS Command UNIX Equivalent Effect

ASSIGN ln link file or directory
ATTRIB chmod change file permissions
CD cd change directory
CHDIR cd change directory
CLS clear clear screen
COMP diff, comm, cmp file compare
COPY cp file copy
Ctl-C Ctl-C break (signal)
Ctl-Z Ctl-D EOF (end-of-file)
DEL rm delete file(s)
DELTREE rm -rf delete directory recursively
DIR ls -l directory listing
ERASE rm delete file(s)
EXIT exit exit current process
FC comm, cmp file compare
FIND grep find strings in files
MD mkdir make directory
MKDIR mkdir make directory
MORE more text file paging filter
MOVE mv move
PATH $PATH path to executables
REN mv rename (move)
RENAME mv rename (move)
RD rmdir remove directory
RMDIR rmdir remove directory

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Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts

SORT sort sort file

TIME date display system time
TYPE cat output file to stdout
XCOPY cp (extended) file copy

Virtually all UNIX and shell operators and commands have many more options and
enhancements than their DOS and batch file equivalents. Many DOS batch files rely
on auxiliary utilities, such as ask.com, a crippled counterpart to read.

DOS supports a very limited and incompatible subset of filename wildcard

expansion, recognizing only the * and ? characters.

Converting a DOS batch file into a shell script is generally straightforward, and the result
ofttimes reads better than the original.

Example H-1. VIEWDATA.BAT: DOS Batch File

REM VIEWDATA

REM INSPIRED BY AN EXAMPLE IN "DOS POWERTOOLS"

REM BY PAUL SOMERSON

@ECHO OFF

IF !%1==! GOTO VIEWDATA

REM IF NO COMMAND-LINE ARG...
FIND "%1" C:\BOZO\BOOKLIST.TXT
GOTO EXIT0
REM PRINT LINE WITH STRING MATCH, THEN EXIT.

:VIEWDATA
TYPE C:\BOZO\BOOKLIST.TXT | MORE
REM SHOW ENTIRE FILE, 1 PAGE AT A TIME.

:EXIT0

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Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts

The script conversion is somewhat of an improvement.

Example H-2. viewdata.sh: Shell Script Conversion of VIEWDATA.BAT

#!/bin/bash
# Conversion of VIEWDATA.BAT to shell script.

DATAFILE=/home/bozo/datafiles/book-collection.data
ARGNO=1

# @ECHO OFF Command unnecessary here.

if [ $# -lt "$ARGNO" ] # IF !%1==! GOTO VIEWDATA

then
less $DATAFILE # TYPE C:\MYDIR\BOOKLIST.TXT | MORE
else
grep "$1" $DATAFILE # FIND "%1" C:\MYDIR\BOOKLIST.TXT
fi

exit 0 # :EXIT0

# GOTOs, labels, smoke-and-mirrors, and flimflam unnecessary.

# The converted script is short, sweet, and clean,
# which is more than can be said for the original.

Ted Davis' Shell Scripts on the PC site has a set of comprehensive tutorials on the old-
fashioned art of batch file programming. Certain of his ingenious techniques could
conceivably have relevance for shell scripts.

Prev Home Next

A Sample .bashrc File Exercises

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Exercises

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Next

Appendix I. Exercises
Table of Contents
I.1. Analyzing Scripts
I.2. Writing Scripts

Prev Home Next

Converting DOS Batch Files Analyzing Scripts
to Shell Scripts

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Analyzing Scripts

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Appendix I. Exercises Next

I.1. Analyzing Scripts

Examine the following script. Run it, then explain what it does. Annotate the script, then
rewrite it in a more compact and elegant manner.

#!/bin/bash

MAX=10000

for((nr=1; nr<$MAX; nr++))

do

let "t1 = nr % 5"

if [ "$t1" -ne 3 ]
then
continue
fi

let "t2 = nr % 7"

if [ "$t2" -ne 4 ]
then
continue
fi

let "t3 = nr % 9"

if [ "$t3" -ne 5 ]
then
continue
fi

break # What heppens when you comment out this line? Why?

done

echo "Number = $nr"

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Analyzing Scripts

exit 0

---

A reader sent in the following code snippet.

while read LINE

do
echo $LINE
done < `tail -f /var/log/messages`

He wished to write a script tracking changes to the system log file,

/var/log/messages. Unfortunately, the above code block hangs and does nothing
useful. Why? Fix this so it does work (hint: rather than redirecting the stdin of the loop,
try a pipe).

---

Analyze Example A-10, and reorganize it in a simplified and more logical style. See how
many of its variables can be eliminated and try to optimize the script to speed up its
execution time.

Alter the script so that it accepts any ordinary ASCII text file as input for its initial
"generation". The script will read the first $ROW*$COL characters, and set the occurrences
of vowels as "living" cells. Hint: be sure to translate the spaces in the input file to
underscore characters.

Prev Home Next

Exercises Up Writing Scripts

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Writing Scripts

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Appendix I. Exercises Next

I.2. Writing Scripts

Write a script to carry out each of the following tasks.

Easy

Home Directory Listing

Perform a recursive directory listing on the user's home directory and save the information to a file. Compress the
file, have the script prompt the user to insert a floppy, then press ENTER. Finally, save the file to the floppy.
Converting for loops to while and until loops

Convert the for loops in Example 10-1 to while loops. Hint: store the data in an array and step through the array
elements.

Having already done the "heavy lifting", now convert the loops in the example to until loops.
Changing the line spacing of a text file

Write a script that reads each line of a target file, then writes the line back to stdout, but with an extra blank line
following. This has the effect of double-spacing the file.

Include all necessary code to check whether the script gets the necessary command line argument (a filename), and
whether the specified file exists.

When the script runs correctly, modify it to triple-space the target file.

Finally, write a script to remove all blank lines from the target file, single-spacing it.
Backwards Listing

Write a script that echoes itself to stdout, but backwards.

Automatically Decompressing Files

Given a list of filenames as input, this script queries each target file (parsing the output of the file command) for the
type of compression used on it. Then the script automatically invokes the appropriate decompression command
(gunzip, bunzip2, unzip, uncompress, or whatever). If a target file is not compressed, the script emits a warning
message, but takes no other action on that particular file.
Unique System ID

Generate a "unique" 6-digit hexadecimal identifier for your computer. Do not use the flawed hostid command. Hint:
md5sum /etc/passwd, then select the first 6 digits of output.
Backup

Archive as a "tarball" (*.tar.gz file) all the files in your home directory tree (/home/your-name) that have
been modified in the last 24 hours. Hint: use find.
Primes

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Writing Scripts

Print (to stdout) all prime numbers between 60000 and 63000. The output should be nicely formatted in columns
(hint: use printf).
Lottery Numbers

One type of lottery involves picking five different numbers, in the range of 1 - 50. Write a script that generates five
pseudorandom numbers in this range, with no duplicates. The script will give the option of echoing the numbers to
stdout or saving them to a file, along with the date and time the particular number set was generated.

Intermediate

Managing Disk Space

List, one at a time, all files larger than 100K in the /home/username directory tree. Give the user the option to
delete or compress the file, then proceed to show the next one. Write to a logfile the names of all deleted files and the
deletion times.
Safe Delete

Write, as a script, a "safe" delete command, srm.sh. Filenames passed as command-line arguments to this script are
not deleted, but instead gzipped if not already compressed (use file to check), then moved to a
/home/username/trash directory. At invocation, the script checks the "trash" directory for files older than 48
hours and deletes them.
Making Change

What is the most efficient way to make change for $1.68, using only coins in common circulations (up to 25c)? It's 6
quarters, 1 dime, a nickel, and three cents.

Given any arbitrary command line input in dollars and cents ($*.??), calculate the change, using the minimum
number of coins. If your home country is not the United States, you may use your local currency units instead. The
script will need to parse the command line input, then change it to multiples of the smallest monetary unit (cents or
whatever). Hint: look at Example 23-4.
Quadratic Equations

Solve a "quadratic" equation of the form Ax^2 + Bx + C = 0. Have a script take as arguments the coefficients, A, B,
and C, and return the solutions to four decimal places.

Hint: pipe the coefficients to bc, using the well-known formula, x = ( -B +/- sqrt( B^2 - 4AC ) ) / 2A.
Sum of Matching Numbers

Find the sum of all five-digit numbers (in the range 10000 - 99999) containing exactly two out of the following set of
digits: { 4, 5, 6 }. These may repeat within the same number, and if so, they count once for each occurrence.

Some examples of matching numbers are 42057, 74638, and 89515.

Lucky Numbers

A "lucky number" is one whose individual digits add up to 7, in successive additions. For example, 62431 is a "lucky
number" (6 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 1 = 16, 1 + 6 = 7). Find all the "lucky numbers" between 1000 and 10000.
Alphabetizing a String

Alphabetize (in ASCII order) an arbitrary string read from the command line.
Parsing

Parse /etc/passwd, and output its contents in nice, easy-to-read tabular form.

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Writing Scripts

Pretty-Printing a Data File

Certain database and spreadsheet packages use save-files with comma-separated values (CSVs). Other applications
often need to parse these files.

Given a data file with comma-separated fields, of the form:

Jones,Bill,235 S. Williams St.,Denver,CO,80221,(303) 244-7989

Smith,Tom,404 Polk Ave.,Los Angeles,CA,90003,(213) 879-5612
...

Reformat the data and print it out to stdout in labeled, evenly-spaced columns.

Passwords

Generate pseudorandom 8-character passwords, using characters in the ranges [0-9], [A-Z], [a-z]. Each password
must contain at least two digits.

Difficult

Logging File Accesses

Log all accesses to the files in /etc during the course of a single day. This information should include the filename,
user name, and access time. If any alterations to the files take place, that should be flagged. Write this data as neatly
formatted records in a logfile.
Strip Comments

Strip all comments from a shell script whose name is specified on the command line. Note that the "#! line" must not
be stripped out.
HTML Conversion

Convert a given text file to HTML. This non-interactive script automatically inserts all appropriate HTML tags into a
file specified as an argument.
Strip HTML Tags

Strip all HTML tags from a specified HTML file, then reformat it into lines between 60 and 75 characters in length.
Reset paragraph and block spacing, as appropriate, and convert HTML tables to their approximate text equivalent.
XML Conversion

Convert an XML file to both HTML and text format.

Morse Code

Convert a text file to Morse code. Each character of the text file will be represented as a corresponding Morse code
group of dots and dashes (underscores), separated by whitespace from the next. For example, "script" ===> "... _._.
._. .. .__. _".
Hex Dump

Do a hex(adecimal) dump on a binary file specified as an argument. The output should be in neat tabular fields, with
the first field showing the address, each of the next 8 fields a 4-byte hex number, and the final field the ASCII
equivalent of the previous 8 fields.
Emulating a Shift Register

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Writing Scripts

Using Example 26-6 as an inspiration, write a script that emulates a 64-bit shift register as an array. Implement
functions to load the register, shift left, and shift right. Finally, write a function that interprets the register contents as
eight 8-bit ASCII characters.
Determinant

Solve a 4 x 4 determinant.
Hidden Words

Write a "word-find" puzzle generator, a script that hides 10 input words in a 10 x 10 matrix of random letters. The
words may be hidden across, down, or diagonally.
Anagramming

Anagram 4-letter input. For example, the anagrams of word are: do or rod row word. You may use
/usr/share/dict/linux.words as the reference list.
Fog Index

The "fog index" of a passage of text estimates its reading difficulty, as a number corresponding roughly to a school
grade level. For example, a passage with a fog index of 12 should be comprehensible to anyone with 12 years of
schooling.

The Gunning version of the fog index uses the following algorithm.

1. Choose a section of the text at least 100 words in length.

2. Count the number of sentences (a portion of a sentence truncated by the boundary of the text section counts as
one).
3. Find the average number of words per sentence.

AVE_WDS_SEN = TOTAL_WORDS / SENTENCES

4. Count the number of "difficult" words in the segment -- those containing at least 3 syllables. Divide this
quantity by total words to get the proportion of difficult words.

PRO_DIFF_WORDS = LONG_WORDS / TOTAL_WORDS

5. The Gunning fog index is the sum of the above two quantities, multiplied by 0.4, then rounded to the nearest
integer.

G_FOG_INDEX = int ( 0.4 * ( AVE_WDS_SEN + PRO_DIFF_WORDS ) )

Step 4 is by far the most difficult portion of the exercise. There exist various algorithms for estimating the syllable
count of a word. A rule-of-thumb formula might consider the number of letters in a word and the vowel-consonant
mix.

A strict interpretation of the Gunning Fog index does not count compound words and proper nouns as "difficult"
words, but this would enormously complicate the script.
Playfair Cipher

Implement the Playfair (Wheatstone) Cipher in a script.

The Playfair Cipher encrypts text by substitution of each 2-letter "digram" (grouping). Traditionally, one would use a
5 x 5 letter scrambled alphabet code key square for the encryption and decryption.

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Writing Scripts

C O D E S
A B F G H
I K L M N
P Q R T U
V W X Y Z

Each letter of the alphabet appears once, except "I" also represents
"J". The arbitrarily chosen key word, "CODES" comes first, then all the
rest of the alphabet, skipping letters already used.

To encrypt, separate the plaintext message into digrams (2-letter

groups). If a group has two identical letters, delete the second, and
form a new group. If there is a single letter left over at the end,
insert a "null" character, typically an "X".

THIS IS A TOP SECRET MESSAGE

TH IS IS AT OP SE CR ET ME SA GE

For each digram, there are three possibilities.

----------------------------------------------
1) Both letters will be on the same row of the key square
For each letter, substitute the one immediately to the right, in that
row. If necessary, wrap around left to the beginning of the row.

or

2) Both letters will be in the same column of the key square

For each letter, substitute the one immediately below it, in that
row. If necessary, wrap around to the top of the column.

or

3) Both letters will form the corners of a rectangle within the key
square. For each letter, substitute the one on the other corner the
rectangle which lies on the same row.

The "TH" digram falls under case #3.

G H
M N
T U (Rectangle with "T" and "H" at corners)

T --> U
H --> G

The "SE" digram falls under case #1.

C O D E S (Row containing "S" and "E")

S --> C (wraps around left to beginning of row)

E --> S

=========================================================================

To decrypt encrypted text, reverse the above procedure under cases #1

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Writing Scripts

and #2 (move in opposite direction for substitution). Under case #3,

just take the remaining two corners of the rectangle.

Helen Fouche Gaines' classic work, "Elementary Cryptoanalysis" (1939), gives a

fairly detailed rundown on the Playfair Cipher and its solution methods.

This script will have three main sections

I. Generating the "key square", based on a user-input keyword.

II. Encrypting a "plaintext" message.
III. Decrypting encrypted text.

The script will make extensive use of arrays and functions.

--

Please do not send the author your solutions to these exercises. There are better ways to impress him with your cleverness,
such as submitting bugfixes and suggestions for improving this book.

Prev Home Next

Analyzing Scripts Up Copyright

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Copyright

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev

Appendix J. Copyright
The "Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide" is copyright, (c) 2000, by Mendel Cooper. This document may only be
distributed subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License (version 1.0 or later),
http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/. The following license options also apply.

A. Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document

is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

B. Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard

(paper) book form is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from
the copyright holder.

Essentially, you may freely distribute this book in unaltered electronic form. You must obtain the author's
permission to distribute a substantially modified version or derivative work. The purpose of this restriction is to
preserve the artistic integrity of this document and to prevent "forking".

These are very liberal terms, and they should not hinder any legitimate distribution or use of this book. The author
especially encourages the use of this book for instructional purposes.

The commercial print rights to this book are available. Please contact the author if interested.

The author produced this book in a manner consistent with the spirit of the LDP Manifesto.

---

Hyun Jin Cha has done a Korean translation of version 1.0.11 of this book. Spanish, Portuguese, French, German,
and Chinese translations are underway. If you wish to translate this document into another language, please feel
free to do so, subject to the terms stated above. The author wishes to be notified of such efforts.

Prev Home
Writing Scripts

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Variable Assignment

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters Next

5.2. Variable Assignment

=

the assignment operator (no space before & after)

Do not confuse this with = and -eq, which test, rather than assign!

Note that = can be either an assignment or a test operator, depending on context.

Example 5-2. Plain Variable Assignment

#!/bin/bash

echo

# When is a variable "naked", i.e., lacking the '$' in front?

# When it is being assigned, rather than referenced.

# Assignment
a=879
echo "The value of \"a\" is $a"

# Assignment using 'let'

let a=16+5
echo "The value of \"a\" is now $a"

echo

# In a 'for' loop (really, a type of disguised assignment)

echo -n "The values of \"a\" in the loop are "
for a in 7 8 9 11
do
echo -n "$a "
done

echo
echo

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Variable Assignment

# In a 'read' statement (also a type of assignment)

echo -n "Enter \"a\" "
read a
echo "The value of \"a\" is now $a"

echo

exit 0

Example 5-3. Variable Assignment, plain and fancy

#!/bin/bash

a=23 # Simple case

echo $a
b=$a
echo $b

# Now, getting a little bit fancier (command substitution).

a=`echo Hello!` # Assigns result of 'echo' command to 'a'

echo $a
# Note that using an exclamation mark (!) in command substitution
#+ will not work from the command line,
#+ since this triggers the Bash "history mechanism."
# Within a script, however, the history functions are disabled.

a=`ls -l` # Assigns result of 'ls -l' command to 'a'

echo $a # Unquoted, however, removes tabs and newlines.
echo
echo "$a" # The quoted variable preserves whitespace.
# (See the chapter on "Quoting.")

exit 0

Variable assignment using the $(...) mechanism (a newer method than backquotes)

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Variable Assignment

# From /etc/rc.d/rc.local
R=$(cat /etc/redhat-release)
arch=$(uname -m)

Prev Home Next

Variable Substitution Up Bash Variables Are Untyped

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Bash Variables Are Untyped

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 5. Introduction to Variables and Parameters Next

5.3. Bash Variables Are Untyped

Unlike many other programming languages, Bash does not segregate its variables by "type".
Essentially, Bash variables are character strings, but, depending on context, Bash permits integer
operations and comparisons on variables. The determining factor is whether the value of a
variable contains only digits.

Example 5-4. Integer or string?

#!/bin/bash
# int-or-string.sh
# Integer or string?

a=2334 # Integer.
let "a += 1"
echo "a = $a " # Integer, still.
echo

b=${a/23/BB} # Transform into a string.

echo "b = $b" # BB35
declare -i b # Declaring it an integer doesn't help.
echo "b = $b" # BB35, still.

let "b += 1" # BB35 + 1 =

echo "b = $b" # 1
echo

c=BB34
echo "c = $c" # BB34
d=${c/BB/23} # Transform into an integer.
echo "d = $d" # 2334
let "d += 1" # 2334 + 1 =
echo "d = $d" # 2335

# Variables in Bash are essentially untyped.

exit 0

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Bash Variables Are Untyped

Untyped variables are both a blessing and a curse. They permit more flexibility in scripting
(enough rope to hang yourself) and make it easier to grind out lines of code. However, they
permit errors to creep in and encourage sloppy programming habits.

The burden is on the programmer to keep track of what type the script variables are. Bash will
not do it for you.

Prev Home Next

Variable Assignment Up Special Variable Types

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Communications Commands

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands Next

12.6. Communications Commands

Information and Statistics

host

Searches for information about an Internet host by name or IP address, using DNS.
vrfy

Verify an Internet e-mail address.

nslookup

Do an Internet "name server lookup" on a host by IP address. This may be run either interactively or noninteractively, i.e.,
from within a script.
dig

Similar to nslookup, do an Internet "name server lookup" on a host. May be run either interactively or noninteractively, i.e.,
from within a script.
traceroute

Trace the route taken by packets sent to a remote host. This command works within a LAN, WAN, or over the Internet. The
remote host may be specified by an IP address. The output of this command may be filtered by grep or sed in a pipe.
ping

Broadcast an "ICMP ECHO_REQUEST" packet to other machines, either on a local or remote network. This is a diagnostic
tool for testing network connections, and it should be used with caution.

A successful ping returns an exit status of 0. This can be tested for in a script.

bash$ ping localhost

PING localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1) from 127.0.0.1 : 56(84) bytes of data.
Warning: time of day goes back, taking countermeasures.
64 bytes from localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=709 usec
64 bytes from localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=286 usec

--- localhost.localdomain ping statistics ---

2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/mdev = 0.286/0.497/0.709/0.212 ms

whois

Perform a DNS (Domain Name System) lookup. The -h option permits specifying which whois server to query. See
Example 5-6.
finger

Retrieve information about a particular user on a network. Optionally, this command can display the user's ~/.plan,
~/.project, and ~/.forward files, if present.

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Communications Commands

bash$ finger bozo

Login: bozo Name: Bozo Bozeman
Directory: /home/bozo Shell: /bin/bash
On since Fri Aug 31 20:13 (MST) on tty1 1 hour 38 minutes idle
On since Fri Aug 31 20:13 (MST) on pts/0 12 seconds idle
On since Fri Aug 31 20:13 (MST) on pts/1
On since Fri Aug 31 20:31 (MST) on pts/2 1 hour 16 minutes idle
No mail.
No Plan.

Out of security considerations, many networks disable finger and its associated daemon. [1]

Remote Host Access

sx, rx

The sx and rx command set serves to transfer files to and from a remote host using the xmodem protocol. These are
generally part of a communications package, such as minicom.
sz, rz

The sz and rz command set serves to transfer files to and from a remote host using the zmodem protocol. Zmodem has
certain advantages over xmodem, such as greater transmission rate and resumption of interrupted file transfers. Like sx and
rx, these are generally part of a communications package.
ftp

Utility and protocol for uploading / downloading files to / from a remote host. An ftp session can be automated in a script
(see Example 17-7, Example A-5, and Example A-13).
cu

Call Up a remote system and connect as a simple terminal. This is a sort of dumbed-down version of telnet.
uucp

UNIX to UNIX copy. This is a communications package for transferring files between UNIX servers. A shell script is an
effective way to handle a uucp command sequence.

Since the advent of the Internet and e-mail, uucp seems to have faded into obscurity, but it still exists and remains perfectly
workable in situations where an Internet connection is not available or appropriate.
telnet

Utility and protocol for connecting to a remote host.

The telnet protocol contains security holes and should therefore probably be avoided.
rlogin

Remote login, initates a session on a remote host. This command has security issues, so use ssh instead.
rsh

Remote shell, executes command(s) on a remote host. This has security issues, so use ssh instead.
rcp

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Communications Commands

Remote copy, copies files between two different networked machines. Using rcp and similar utilities with security
implications in a shell script may not be advisable. Consider, instead, using ssh or an expect script.
ssh

Secure shell, logs onto a remote host and executes commands there. This secure replacement for telnet, rlogin, rcp,
and rsh uses identity authentication and encryption. See its manpage for details.

Local Network

write

This is a utility for terminal-to-terminal communication. It allows sending lines from your terminal (console or xterm) to
that of another user. The mesg command may, of course, be used to disable write access to a terminal

Since write is interactive, it would not normally find use in a script.

Mail

mail

Send an e-mail message to a user.

This stripped-down command-line mail client works fine as a command embedded in a script.

Example 12-31. A script that mails itself

#!/bin/sh
# self-mailer.sh: Self-mailing script

ARGCOUNT=1 # Need name of addressee.

E_WRONGARGS=65
if [ $# -ne "$ARGCOUNT" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` addressee"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

# ========================================================================
cat $0 | mail -s "Script \"`basename $0`\" has mailed itself to you." "$1"
# ========================================================================

# --------------------------------------------
# Greetings from the self-mailing script.
# A mischievous person has run this script,
#+ which has caused it to mail itself to you.
# Apparently, some people have nothing better
#+ to do with their time.
# --------------------------------------------

exit 0

vacation

This utility automatically replies to e-mails that the intended recipient is on vacation and temporarily unavailable. This runs
on a network, in conjunction with sendmail, and is not applicable to a dial-up POPmail account.

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Communications Commands

Notes

[1] A daemon is a background process not attached to a terminal session. Daemons perform designated services either at
specified times or explicitly triggered by certain events.

The word "daemon" means ghost in Greek, and there is certainly something mysterious, almost supernatural, about the way
UNIX daemons silently wander about behind the scenes, carrying out their appointed tasks.

Prev Home Next

File and Archiving Commands Up Terminal Control Commands

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Test Constructs

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 7. Tests Next

7.1.
Test Constructs
● An if/then construct tests whether the exit status of a list of commands is 0 (since 0 means "success" by
UNIX convention), and if so, executes one or more commands.
● There exists a dedicated command called [ (left bracket special character). It is a synonym for test, and a
builtin for efficiency reasons. This command considers its arguments as comparison expressions or file
tests and returns an exit status corresponding to the result of the comparison (0 for true, 1 for false).
● With version 2.02, Bash introduced the [[ ... ]] extended test command, which performs comparisons in a
manner more familiar to programmers from other languages. Note that [[ is a keyword, not a command.

Bash sees [[ $a -lt $b ]] as a single element, which returns an exit status.

The (( ... )) and let ... constructs also return an exit status of 0 if the arithmetic expressions they evaluate
expand to a non-zero value. These arithmetic expansion constructs may therefore be used to perform
arithmetic comparisons.

let "1<2" returns 0 (as "1<2" expands to "1")

(( 0 && 1 )) returns 1 (as "0 && 1" expands to "0")

● An if can test any command, not just conditions enclosed within brackets.

if cmp a b &> /dev/null # Suppress output.

then echo "Files a and b are identical."
else echo "Files a and b differ."
fi

if grep -q Bash file

then echo "File contains at least one occurrence of Bash."
fi

if COMMAND_WHOSE_EXIT_STATUS_IS_0_UNLESS_ERROR_OCCURRED
then echo "Command succeeded."
else echo "Command failed."
fi

● An if/then construct can contain nested comparisons and tests.

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Test Constructs

if echo "Next *if* is part of the comparison for the first *if*."

if [[ $comparison = "integer" ]]
then (( a < b ))
else
[[ $a < $b ]]
fi

then
echo '$a is less than $b'
fi

This detailed "if-test" explanation courtesy of Stephane Chazelas.

Example 7-1. What is truth?

#!/bin/bash

echo

echo "Testing \"0\""

if [ 0 ] # zero
then
echo "0 is true."
else
echo "0 is false."
fi # 0 is true.

echo

echo "Testing \"1\""

if [ 1 ] # one
then
echo "1 is true."
else
echo "1 is false."
fi # 1 is true.

echo

echo "Testing \"-1\""

if [ -1 ] # minus one
then
echo "-1 is true."
else
echo "-1 is false."
fi # -1 is true.

echo

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Test Constructs

echo "Testing \"NULL\""

if [ ] # NULL (empty condition)
then
echo "NULL is true."
else
echo "NULL is false."
fi # NULL is false.

echo

echo "Testing \"xyz\""

if [ xyz ] # string
then
echo "Random string is true."
else
echo "Random string is false."
fi # Random string is true.

echo

echo "Testing \"\$xyz\""

if [ $xyz ] # Tests if $xyz is null, but...
# it's only an uninitialized variable.
then
echo "Uninitialized variable is true."
else
echo "Uninitialized variable is false."
fi # Uninitialized variable is false.

echo

echo "Testing \"-n \$xyz\""

if [ -n "$xyz" ] # More pedantically correct.
then
echo "Uninitialized variable is true."
else
echo "Uninitialized variable is false."
fi # Uninitialized variable is false.

echo

xyz= # Initialized, but set to null value.

echo "Testing \"-n \$xyz\""

if [ -n "$xyz" ]
then
echo "Null variable is true."
else
echo "Null variable is false."
fi # Null variable is false.

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Test Constructs

echo

# When is "false" true?

echo "Testing \"false\""

if [ "false" ] # It seems that "false" is just a string.
then
echo "\"false\" is true." #+ and it tests true.
else
echo "\"false\" is false."
fi # "false" is true.

echo

echo "Testing \"\$false\"" # Again, uninitialized variable.

if [ "$false" ]
then
echo "\"\$false\" is true."
else
echo "\"\$false\" is false."
fi # "$false" is false.
# Now, we get the expected result.

echo

exit 0

Exercise. Explain the behavior of Example 7-1, above.

if [ condition-true ]
then
command 1
command 2
...
else
# Optional (may be left out if not needed).
# Adds default code block executing if original condition tests false.
command 3
command 4
...
fi

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Test Constructs

When if and then are on same line in a condition test, a semicolon must terminate the if statement. Both if
and then are keywords. Keywords (or commands) begin statements, and before a new statement on the
same line begins, the old one must terminate.

if [ -x "$filename" ]; then

Else if and elif

elif

elif is a contraction for else if. The effect is to nest an inner if/then construct within an outer one.

if [ condition1 ]
then
command1
command2
command3
elif [ condition2 ]
# Same as else if
then
command4
command5
else
default-command
fi

The if test condition-true construct is the exact equivalent of if [ condition-true ]. As it

happens, the left bracket, [ , is a token which invokes the test command. The closing right bracket, ] , in an if/test
should not therefore be strictly necessary, however newer versions of Bash require it.

The test command is a Bash builtin which tests file types and compares strings. Therefore, in a Bash
script, test does not call the external /usr/bin/test binary, which is part of the sh-utils package.
Likewise, [ does not call /usr/bin/[, which is linked to /usr/bin/test.

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Test Constructs

bash$ type test

test is a shell builtin
bash$ type '['
[ is a shell builtin
bash$ type '[['
[[ is a shell keyword
bash$ type ']]'
]] is a shell keyword
bash$ type ']'
bash: type: ]: not found

Example 7-2. Equivalence of test, /usr/bin/test, [ ], and /usr/bin/[

#!/bin/bash

echo

if test -z "$1"
then
echo "No command-line arguments."
else
echo "First command-line argument is $1."
fi

echo

if /usr/bin/test -z "$1" # Same result as "test" builtin".

then
echo "No command-line arguments."
else
echo "First command-line argument is $1."
fi

echo

if [ -z "$1" ] # Functionally identical to above code blocks.

# if [ -z "$1" should work, but...
#+ Bash responds to a missing close-bracket with an error message.
then
echo "No command-line arguments."
else
echo "First command-line argument is $1."
fi

echo

if /usr/bin/[ -z "$1" # Again, functionally identical to above.

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Test Constructs

# if /usr/bin/[ -z "$1" ] # Works, but gives an error message.

then
echo "No command-line arguments."
else
echo "First command-line argument is $1."
fi

echo

exit 0

The [[ ]] construct is the shell equivalent of [ ]. This is the extended test command, adopted from ksh88.

No filename expansion or word splitting takes place between [[ and ]], but there is parameter expansion
and command substitution.

file=/etc/passwd

if [[ -e $file ]]
then
echo "Password file exists."
fi

Using the [[ ... ]] test construct, rather than [ ... ] can prevent many logic errors in scripts. For example, the
&&, ||, <, and > operators work within a [[ ]] test, despite giving an error within a [ ] construct.

Following an if, neither the test command nor the test brackets ( [ ] or [[ ]] ) are strictly necessary.

dir=/home/bozo

if cd "$dir" 2>/dev/null; then # "2>/dev/null" hides error message.

echo "Now in $dir."
else
echo "Can't change to $dir."
fi

The "if COMMAND" construct returns the exit status of COMMAND.

Similarly, a condition within test brackets may stand alone without an if, when used in combination with a
list construct.

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Test Constructs

var1=20
var2=22
[ "$var1" -ne "$var2" ] && echo "$var1 is not equal to $var2"

home=/home/bozo
[ -d "$home" ] || echo "$home directory does not exist."

The (( )) construct expands and evaluates an arithmetic expression. If the expression evaluates as zero, it returns an
exit status of 1, or "false". A non-zero expression returns an exit status of 0, or "true". This is in marked contrast to
using the test and [ ] constructs previously discussed.

Example 7-3. Arithmetic Tests using (( ))

#!/bin/bash
# Arithmetic tests.

# The (( ... )) construct evaluates and tests numerical expressions.

# Exit status opposite from [ ... ] construct!

(( 0 ))
echo "Exit status of \"(( 0 ))\" is $?." # 1

(( 1 ))
echo "Exit status of \"(( 1 ))\" is $?." # 0

(( 5 > 4 )) # true
echo $? # 0

(( 5 > 9 )) # false
echo $? # 1

exit 0

Prev Home Next

Tests Up File test operators

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Comparison operators (binary)

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 7. Tests Next

7.3. Comparison operators (binary)

integer comparison

-eq

is equal to

if [ "$a" -eq "$b" ]

-ne

is not equal to

if [ "$a" -ne "$b" ]

-gt

is greater than

if ["$a" -gt "$b" ]

-ge

is greater than or equal to

if [ "$a" -ge "$b" ]

-lt

is less than

if [ "$a" -lt "$b" ]

-le

is less than or equal to

if [ "$a" -le "$b" ]

<

is less than (within double parentheses)

(("$a" < "$b"))

<=

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Comparison operators (binary)

is less than or equal to (within double parentheses)

(("$a" <= "$b"))

>

is greater than (within double parentheses)

(("$a" > "$b"))

>=

is greater than or equal to (within double parentheses)

(("$a" >= "$b"))

string comparison

is equal to

if [ "$a" = "$b" ]
==

is equal to

if [ "$a" == "$b" ]

This is a synonym for =.

[[ $a == z* ]] # true if $a starts with an "z" (pattern matching)

[[ $a == "z*" ]] # true if $a is equal to z*

[ $a == z* ] # file globbing and word splitting take place

[ "$a" == "z*" ] # true if $a is equal to z*

# Thanks, S.C.

!=

is not equal to

if [ "$a" != "$b" ]

This operator uses pattern matching within a [[ ... ]] construct.

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Comparison operators (binary)

<

is less than, in ASCII alphabetical order

if [[ "$a" < "$b" ]]

if [ "$a" \< "$b" ]

Note that the "<" needs to be escaped within a [ ] construct.

>

is greater than, in ASCII alphabetical order

if [[ "$a" > "$b" ]]

if [ "$a" \> "$b" ]

Note that the ">" needs to be escaped within a [ ] construct.

See Example 26-4 for an application of this comparison operator.

-z

string is "null", that is, has zero length

-n

string is not "null".

The -n test absolutely requires that the string be quoted within the test brackets. Using an
unquoted string with ! -z, or even just the unquoted string alone within test brackets (see
Example 7-5) normally works, however, this is an unsafe practice. Always quote a tested
string. [1]

Example 7-4. arithmetic and string comparisons

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Comparison operators (binary)

#!/bin/bash

a=4
b=5

# Here "a" and "b" can be treated either as integers or strings.

# There is some blurring between the arithmetic and string comparisons,
#+ since Bash variables are not strongly typed.

# Bash permits integer operations and comparisons on variables

#+ whose value consists of all-integer characters.
# Caution advised.

if [ "$a" -ne "$b" ]

then
echo "$a is not equal to $b"
echo "(arithmetic comparison)"
fi

echo

if [ "$a" != "$b" ]
then
echo "$a is not equal to $b."
echo "(string comparison)"
fi

# In this instance, both "-ne" and "!=" work.

echo

exit 0

Example 7-5. testing whether a string is null

#!/bin/bash
# str-test.sh: Testing null strings and unquoted strings,
# but not strings and sealing wax, not to mention cabbages and kings...

# Using if [ ... ]

# If a string has not been initialized, it has no defined value.

# This state is called "null" (not the same as zero).

if [ -n $string1 ] # $string1 has not been declared or initialized.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."

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Comparison operators (binary)

else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi
# Wrong result.
# Shows $string1 as not null, although it was not initialized.

echo

# Lets try it again.

if [ -n "$string1" ] # This time, $string1 is quoted.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."
else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi # Quote strings within test brackets!

echo

if [ $string1 ] # This time, $string1 stands naked.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."
else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi
# This works fine.
# The [ ] test operator alone detects whether the string is null.
# However it is good practice to quote it ("$string1").
#
# As Stephane Chazelas points out,
# if [ $string 1 ] has one argument, "]"
# if [ "$string 1" ] has two arguments, the empty "$string1" and "]"

echo

string1=initialized

if [ $string1 ] # Again, $string1 stands naked.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."
else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi

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Comparison operators (binary)

# Again, gives correct result.

# Still, it is better to quote it ("$string1"), because...

string1="a = b"

if [ $string1 ] # Again, $string1 stands naked.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."
else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi
# Not quoting "$string1" now gives wrong result!

exit 0
# Also, thank you, Florian Wisser, for the "heads-up".

Example 7-6. zmost

#!/bin/bash

#View gzipped files with 'most'

NOARGS=65
NOTFOUND=66
NOTGZIP=67

if [ $# -eq 0 ] # same effect as: if [ -z "$1" ]

# $1 can exist, but be empty: zmost "" arg2 arg3
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename" >&2
# Error message to stderr.
exit $NOARGS
# Returns 65 as exit status of script (error code).
fi

filename=$1

if [ ! -f "$filename" ] # Quoting $filename allows for possible spaces.

then
echo "File $filename not found!" >&2
# Error message to stderr.
exit $NOTFOUND
fi

if [ ${filename##*.} != "gz" ]
# Using bracket in variable substitution.
then

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Comparison operators (binary)

echo "File $1 is not a gzipped file!"

exit $NOTGZIP
fi

zcat $1 | most

# Uses the file viewer 'most' (similar to 'less').

# Later versions of 'most' have file decompression capabilities.
# May substitute 'more' or 'less', if desired.

exit $? # Script returns exit status of pipe.

# Actually "exit $?" unnecessary, as the script will, in any case,
# return the exit status of the last command executed.

compound comparison

-a

logical and

exp1 -a exp2 returns true if both exp1 and exp2 are true.
-o

logical or

exp1 -o exp2 returns true if either exp1 or exp2 are true.

These are similar to the Bash comparison operators && and ||, used within double brackets.

[[ condition1 && condition2 ]]

The -o and -a operators work with the test command or occur within single test brackets.
if [ "$exp1" -a "$exp2" ]

Refer to Example 8-3 and Example 26-8 to see compound comparison operators in action.

Notes

[1] As S.C. points out, in a compound test, even quoting the string variable might not suffice. [ -n
"$string" -o "$a" = "$b" ] may cause an error with some versions of Bash if $string is
empty. The safe way is to append an extra character to possibly empty variables, [ "x$string"
!= x -o "x$a" = "x$b" ] (the "x's" cancel out).

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Comparison operators (binary)

Prev Home Next

File test operators Up Nested if/then Condition Tests

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Operators

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics Next

8.1. Operators
assignment

variable assignment

Initializing or changing the value of a variable

=

All-purpose assignment operator, which works for both arithmetic and string assignments.

var=27
category=minerals # No spaces allowed after the "=".

Do not confuse the "=" assignment operator with the = test operator.

# = as a test operator

if [ "$string1" = "$string2" ]
# if [ "X$string1" = "X$string2" ] is safer,
# to prevent an error message should one of the variables be empty.
# (The prepended "X" characters cancel out.)
then
command
fi

arithmetic operators

plus
-

minus
*

multiplication
/

division
**

exponentiation

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Operators

# Bash, version 2.02, introduced the "**" exponentiation operator.

let "z=5**3"
echo "z = $z" # z = 125

modulo, or mod (returns the remainder of an integer division operation)

bash$ echo `expr 5 % 3`

2

This operator finds use in, among other things, generating numbers within a specific range (see Example 9-21 and Example 9-
22) and formatting program output (see Example 26-7 and Example A-7). It can even be used to generate prime numbers,
(see Example A-16). Modulo turns up surprisingly often in various numerical recipes.

Example 8-1. Greatest common divisor

#!/bin/bash
# gcd.sh: greatest common divisor
# Uses Euclid's algorithm

# The "greatest common divisor" (gcd) of two integers

#+ is the largest integer that will divide both, leaving no remainder.

# Euclid's algorithm uses successive division.

# In each pass,
#+ dividend <--- divisor
#+ divisor <--- remainder
#+ until remainder = 0.
#+ The gcd = dividend, on the final pass.
#
# For an excellent discussion of Euclid's algorithm, see
# Jim Loy's site, http://www.jimloy.com/number/euclids.htm.

# ------------------------------------------------------
# Argument check
ARGS=2
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` first-number second-number"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi
# ------------------------------------------------------

gcd ()
{

# Arbitrary assignment.

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Operators

dividend=$1 # It does not matter

divisor=$2 #+ which of the two is larger.
# Why?

remainder=1 # If uninitialized variable used in loop,

#+ it results in an error message
#+ on first pass through loop.

until [ "$remainder" -eq 0 ]

do
let "remainder = $dividend % $divisor"
dividend=$divisor # Now repeat with 2 smallest numbers.
divisor=$remainder
done # Euclid's algorithm

} # Last $dividend is the gcd.

gcd $1 $2

echo; echo "GCD of $1 and $2 = $dividend"; echo

# Exercise :
# --------
# Check command-line arguments to make sure they are integers,
#+ and exit the script with an appropriate error message if not.

exit 0

+=

"plus-equal" (increment variable by a constant)

let "var += 5" results in var being incremented by 5.

-=

"minus-equal" (decrement variable by a constant)

*=

"times-equal" (multiply variable by a constant)

let "var *= 4" results in var being multiplied by 4.

/=

"slash-equal" (divide variable by a constant)

%=

"mod-equal" (remainder of dividing variable by a constant)

Arithmetic operators often occur in an expr or let expression.

Example 8-2. Using Arithmetic Operations

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Operators

#!/bin/bash
# Counting to 6 in 5 different ways.

n=1; echo -n "$n "

let "n = $n + 1" # let "n = n + 1" also works.

echo -n "$n "

: $((n = $n + 1))
# ":" necessary because otherwise Bash attempts
#+ to interpret "$((n = $n + 1))" as a command.
echo -n "$n "

n=$(($n + 1))
echo -n "$n "

: $[ n = $n + 1 ]
# ":" necessary because otherwise Bash attempts
#+ to interpret "$[ n = $n + 1 ]" as a command.
# Works even if "n" was initialized as a string.
echo -n "$n "

n=$[ $n + 1 ]
# Works even if "n" was initialized as a string.
#* Avoid this type of construct, since it is obsolete and nonportable.
echo -n "$n "; echo

# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

exit 0

Integer variables in Bash are actually signed long (32-bit) integers, in the range of -2147483648 to 2147483647. An
operation that takes a variable outside these limits will give an erroneous result.

a=2147483646
echo "a = $a" # a = 2147483646
let "a+=1" # Increment "a".
echo "a = $a" # a = 2147483647
let "a+=1" # increment "a" again, past the limit.
echo "a = $a" # a = -2147483648
# ERROR (out of range)

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Operators

Bash does not understand floating point arithmetic. It treats numbers containing a decimal point as strings.

a=1.5

let "b = $a + 1.3" # Error.

# t2.sh: let: b = 1.5 + 1.3: syntax error in expression (error token is ".5 + 1.3")

echo "b = $b" # b=1

Use bc in scripts that that need floating point calculations or math library functions.

bitwise operators. The bitwise operators seldom make an appearance in shell scripts. Their chief use seems to be manipulating and
testing values read from ports or sockets. "Bit flipping" is more relevant to compiled languages, such as C and C++, which run fast
enough to permit its use on the fly.

bitwise operators

<<

bitwise left shift (multiplies by 2 for each shift position)

<<=

"left-shift-equal"

let "var <<= 2" results in var left-shifted 2 bits (multiplied by 4)

>>

bitwise right shift (divides by 2 for each shift position)

>>=

"right-shift-equal" (inverse of <<=)

&

bitwise and
&=

"bitwise and-equal"
|

bitwise OR
|=

"bitwise OR-equal"
~

bitwise negate
!

bitwise NOT
^

bitwise XOR
^=

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Operators

"bitwise XOR-equal"

logical operators

&&

and (logical)

if [ $condition1 ] && [ $condition2 ]

# Same as: if [ $condition1 -a $condition2 ]
# Returns true if both condition1 and condition2 hold true...

if [[ $condition1 && $condition2 ]] # Also works.

# Note that && operator not permitted within [ ... ] construct.

&& may also, depending on context, be used in an and list to concatenate commands.
||

or (logical)

if [ $condition1 ] || [ $condition2 ]
# Same as: if [ $condition1 -o $condition2 ]
# Returns true if either condition1 or condition2 holds true...

if [[ $condition1 || $condition2 ]] # Also works.

# Note that || operator not permitted within [ ... ] construct.

Bash tests the exit status of each statement linked with a logical operator.

Example 8-3. Compound Condition Tests Using && and ||

#!/bin/bash

a=24
b=47

if [ "$a" -eq 24 ] && [ "$b" -eq 47 ]

then
echo "Test #1 succeeds."
else
echo "Test #1 fails."
fi

# ERROR: if [ "$a" -eq 24 && "$b" -eq 47 ]

# attempts to execute ' [ "$a" -eq 24 '
# and fails to finding matching ']'.
#
# if [[ $a -eq 24 && $b -eq 24 ]] works
# (The "&&" has a different meaning in line 17 than in line 6.)
# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

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Operators

if [ "$a" -eq 98 ] || [ "$b" -eq 47 ]

then
echo "Test #2 succeeds."
else
echo "Test #2 fails."
fi

# The -a and -o options provide

#+ an alternative compound condition test.
# Thanks to Patrick Callahan for pointing this out.

if [ "$a" -eq 24 -a "$b" -eq 47 ]

then
echo "Test #3 succeeds."
else
echo "Test #3 fails."
fi

if [ "$a" -eq 98 -o "$b" -eq 47 ]

then
echo "Test #4 succeeds."
else
echo "Test #4 fails."
fi

a=rhino
b=crocodile
if [ "$a" = rhino ] && [ "$b" = crocodile ]
then
echo "Test #5 succeeds."
else
echo "Test #5 fails."
fi

exit 0

The && and || operators also find use in an arithmetic context.

bash$ echo $(( 1 && 2 )) $((3 && 0)) $((4 || 0)) $((0 || 0))
1 0 1 0

miscellaneous operators

comma operator

The comma operator chains together two or more arithmetic operations. All the operations are evaluated (with possible side
effects), but only the last operation is returned.

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Operators

let "t1 = ((5 + 3, 7 - 1, 15 - 4))"

echo "t1 = $t1" # t1 = 11

let "t2 = ((a = 9, 15 / 3))" # Set "a" and calculate "t2".

echo "t2 = $t2 a = $a" # t2 = 5 a = 9

The comma operator finds use mainly in for loops. See Example 10-12.

Prev Home Next

Operations and Related Topics Up Numerical Constants

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Numerical Constants

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics Next

8.2. Numerical Constants

A shell script interprets a number as decimal (base 10), unless that number has a special prefix or notation. A
number preceded by a 0 is octal (base 8). A number preceded by 0x is hexadecimal (base 16). A number
with an embedded # is evaluated as BASE#NUMBER (this option is of limited usefulness because of range
restrictions).

Example 8-4. Representation of numerical constants:

#!/bin/bash
# numbers.sh: Representation of numbers.

# Decimal
let "dec = 32"
echo "decimal number = $dec" # 32
# Nothing out of the ordinary here.

# Octal: numbers preceded by '0' (zero)

let "oct = 071"
echo "octal number = $oct" # 57
# Expresses result in decimal.

# Hexadecimal: numbers preceded by '0x' or '0X'

let "hex = 0x7a"
echo "hexadecimal number = $hex" # 122
# Expresses result in decimal.

# Other bases: BASE#NUMBER

# BASE between 2 and 64.

let "bin = 2#111100111001101"

echo "binary number = $bin" # 31181

let "b32 = 32#77"

echo "base-32 number = $b32" # 231

let "b64 = 64#@_"

echo "base-64 number = $b64" # 4094
#
# This notation only works for a limited range (2 - 64)
# 10 digits + 26 lowercase characters + 26 uppercase characters + @ + _

echo

echo $((36#zz)) $((2#10101010)) $((16#AF16)) $((53#1aA))

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Numerical Constants

# 1295 170 44822 3375

# Important note:
# Using a digit out of range of the specified base notation
#+ will give an error message.

let "bad_oct = 081"

# numbers.sh: let: oct = 081: value too great for base (error token is "081")
# Octal numbers use only digits in the range of 0 - 7.

exit 0
# Thanks, Rich Bartell and Stephane Chazelas, for clarification.

Prev Home Next

Operators Up Beyond the Basics

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Manipulating Strings

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.2. Manipulating Strings

Bash supports a surprising number of string manipulation operations. Unfortunately, these tools lack a unified focus. Some are a
subset of parameter substitution, and others fall under the functionality of the UNIX expr command. This results in inconsistent
command syntax and overlap of functionality, not to mention confusion.

String Length

${#string}

expr length $string

expr "$string" : '.*'

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc

echo ${#stringZ} # 15
echo `expr length $stringZ` # 15
echo `expr "$stringZ" : '.*'` # 15

Length of Matching Substring at Beginning of String

expr match "$string" '$substring'

$substring is a regular expression.

expr "$string" : '$substring'

$substring is a regular expression.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# |------|

echo `expr match "$stringZ" 'abc[A-Z]*.2'` # 8

echo `expr "$stringZ" : 'abc[A-Z]*.2'` # 8

Index

expr index $string $substring

Numerical position in $string of first character in $substring that matches.

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Manipulating Strings

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
echo `expr index "$stringZ" C12` # 6
# C position.

echo `expr index "$stringZ" 1c` # 3

# 'c' (in #3 position) matches before '1'.

This is the near equivalent of strchr() in C.

Substring Extraction

${string:position}

Extracts substring from $string at $position.

If the $string parameter is "*" or "@", then this extracts the positional parameters, [1] starting at $position.
${string:position:length}

Extracts $length characters of substring from $string at $position.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# 0123456789.....
# 0-based indexing.

echo ${stringZ:0} # abcABC123ABCabc

echo ${stringZ:1} # bcABC123ABCabc
echo ${stringZ:7} # 23ABCabc

echo ${stringZ:7:3} # 23A

# Three characters of substring.

If the $string parameter is "*" or "@", then this extracts a maximum of $length positional parameters, starting at
$position.

echo ${*:2} # Echoes second and following positional parameters.

echo ${@:2} # Same as above.

echo ${*:2:3} # Echoes three positional parameters, starting at second.

expr substr $string $position $length

Extracts $length characters from $string starting at $position.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# 123456789......
# 1-based indexing.

echo `expr substr $stringZ 1 2` # ab

echo `expr substr $stringZ 4 3` # ABC

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Manipulating Strings

expr match "$string" '\($substring\)'

Extracts $substring at beginning of $string, where $substring is a regular expression.

expr "$string" : '\($substring\)'

Extracts $substring at beginning of $string, where $substring is a regular expression.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# =======

echo `expr match "$stringZ" '\(.[b-c]*[A-Z]..[0-9]\)'` # abcABC1

echo `expr "$stringZ" : '\(.[b-c]*[A-Z]..[0-9]\)'` # abcABC1
echo `expr "$stringZ" : '\(.......\)'` # abcABC1
# All of the above forms give an identical result.

expr match "$string" '.*\($substring\)'

Extracts $substring at end of $string, where $substring is a regular expression.

expr "$string" : '.*\($substring\)'

Extracts $substring at end of $string, where $substring is a regular expression.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# ======

echo `expr match "$stringZ" '.*\([A-C][A-C][A-C][a-c]*\)'` # ABCabc

echo `expr "$stringZ" : '.*\(......\)'` # ABCabc

Substring Removal

${string#substring}

Strips shortest match of $substring from front of $string.

${string##substring}

Strips longest match of $substring from front of $string.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# |----|
# |----------|

echo ${stringZ#a*C} # 123ABCabc

# Strip out shortest match between 'a' and 'C'.

echo ${stringZ##a*C} # abc

# Strip out longest match between 'a' and 'C'.

${string%substring}

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Manipulating Strings

Strips shortest match of $substring from back of $string.

${string%%substring}

Strips longest match of $substring from back of $string.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
# ||
# |------------|

echo ${stringZ%b*c} # abcABC123ABCa

# Strip out shortest match between 'b' and 'c', from back of $stringZ.

echo ${stringZ%%b*c} # a
# Strip out longest match between 'b' and 'c', from back of $stringZ.

Example 9-10. Converting graphic file formats, with filename change

#!/bin/bash
# cvt.sh:
# Converts all the MacPaint image files in a directory to "pbm" format.

# Uses the "macptopbm" binary from the "netpbm" package,

#+ which is maintained by Brian Henderson ([email protected]).
# Netpbm is a standard part of most Linux distros.

OPERATION=macptopbm
SUFFIX=pbm # New filename suffix.

if [ -n "$1" ]
then
directory=$1 # If directory name given as a script argument...
else
directory=$PWD # Otherwise use current working directory.
fi

# Assumes all files in the target directory are MacPaint image files,
# + with a ".mac" suffix.

for file in $directory/* # Filename globbing.

do
filename=${file%.*c} # Strip ".mac" suffix off filename
#+ ('.*c' matches everything
#+ between '.' and 'c', inclusive).
$OPERATION $file > $filename.$SUFFIX
# Redirect conversion to new filename.
rm -f $file # Delete original files after converting.
echo "$filename.$SUFFIX" # Log what is happening to stdout.
done

exit 0

Substring Replacement

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Manipulating Strings

${string/substring/replacement}

Replace first match of $substring with $replacement.

${string//substring/replacement}

Replace all matches of $substring with $replacement.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc

echo ${stringZ/abc/xyz} # xyzABC123ABCabc

# Replaces first match of 'abc' with 'xyz'.

echo ${stringZ//abc/xyz} # xyzABC123ABCxyz

# Replaces all matches of 'abc' with # 'xyz'.

${string/#substring/replacement}

If $substring matches front end of $string, substitute $replacement for $substring.

${string/%substring/replacement}

If $substring matches back end of $string, substitute $replacement for $substring.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc

echo ${stringZ/#abc/XYZ} # XYZABC123ABCabc

# Replaces front-end match of 'abc' with 'xyz'.

echo ${stringZ/%abc/XYZ} # abcABC123ABCXYZ

# Replaces back-end match of 'abc' with 'xyz'.

9.2.1. Manipulating strings using awk

A Bash script may invoke the string manipulation facilities of awk as an alternative to using its built-in operations.

Example 9-11. Alternate ways of extracting substrings

#!/bin/bash
# substring-extraction.sh

String=23skidoo1
# 012345678 Bash
# 123456789 awk
# Note different string indexing system:
# Bash numbers first character of string as '0'.
# Awk numbers first character of string as '1'.

echo ${String:2:4} # position 3 (0-1-2), 4 characters long

# skid

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Manipulating Strings

# The awk equivalent of ${string:pos:length} is substr(string,pos,length).

echo | awk '
{ print substr("'"${String}"'",3,4) # skid
}
'
# Piping an empty "echo" to awk gives it dummy input,
#+ and thus makes it unnecessary to supply a filename.

exit 0

9.2.2. Further Discussion

For more on string manipulation in scripts, refer to Section 9.3 and the relevant section of the expr command listing. For script
examples, see:

1. Example 12-6
2. Example 9-13
3. Example 9-14
4. Example 9-15
5. Example 9-17

Notes

[1] This applies to either command line arguments or parameters passed to a function.

Prev Home Next

Internal Variables Up Parameter Substitution

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Parameter Substitution

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.3. Parameter Substitution

Manipulating and/or expanding variables

${parameter}

Same as $parameter, i.e., value of the variable parameter. In certain contexts, only the less ambiguous
${parameter} form works.

May be used for concatenating variables with strings.

your_id=${USER}-on-${HOSTNAME}
echo "$your_id"
#
echo "Old \$PATH = $PATH"
PATH=${PATH}:/opt/bin #Add /opt/bin to $PATH for duration of script.
echo "New \$PATH = $PATH"

${parameter-default}

If parameter not set, use default.

echo ${username-`whoami`}
# Echoes the result of `whoami`, if variable $username is still unset.

This is almost equivalent to ${parameter:-default}. The extra : makes a difference only

when parameter has been declared, but is null.

#!/bin/bash

username0=
# username0 has been declared, but is set to null.
echo "username0 = ${username0-`whoami`}"
# Will not echo.

echo "username1 = ${username1-`whoami`}"

# username1 has not been declared.
# Will echo.

username2=
# username2 has been declared, but is set to null.
echo "username2 = ${username2:-`whoami`}"
# Will echo because of :- rather than just - in condition test.

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Parameter Substitution

exit 0

${parameter=default}, ${parameter:=default}

If parameter not set, set it to default.

Both forms nearly equivalent. The : makes a difference only when $parameter has been declared and is null, [1] as
above.

echo ${username=`whoami`}
# Variable "username" is now set to `whoami`.

${parameter+alt_value}, ${parameter:+alt_value}

If parameter set, use alt_value, else use null string.

Both forms nearly equivalent. The : makes a difference only when parameter has been declared and is null, see
below.

echo "###### \${parameter+alt_value} ########"

echo

a=${param1+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a =

param2=
a=${param2+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a = xyz

param3=123
a=${param3+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a = xyz

echo
echo "###### \${parameter:+alt_value} ########"
echo

a=${param4:+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a =

param5=
a=${param5:+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a =
# Different result from a=${param5+xyz}

param6=123
a=${param6+xyz}
echo "a = $a" # a = xyz

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Parameter Substitution

${parameter?err_msg}, ${parameter:?err_msg}

If parameter set, use it, else print err_msg.

Both forms nearly equivalent. The : makes a difference only when parameter has been declared and is null, as above.

Example 9-12. Using param substitution and :

#!/bin/bash

# Check some of the system's environmental variables.

# If, for example, $USER, the name of the person at the console, is not set,
#+ the machine will not recognize you.

: ${HOSTNAME?} ${USER?} ${HOME?} ${MAIL?}

echo
echo "Name of the machine is $HOSTNAME."
echo "You are $USER."
echo "Your home directory is $HOME."
echo "Your mail INBOX is located in $MAIL."
echo
echo "If you are reading this message,"
echo "critical environmental variables have been set."
echo
echo

# ------------------------------------------------------

# The ${variablename?} construction can also check

#+ for variables set within the script.

ThisVariable=Value-of-ThisVariable
# Note, by the way, that string variables may be set
#+ to characters disallowed in their names.
: ${ThisVariable?}
echo "Value of ThisVariable is $ThisVariable".
echo
echo

: ${ZZXy23AB?"ZZXy23AB has not been set."}

# If ZZXy23AB has not been set,
#+ then the script terminates with an error message.

# You can specify the error message.

# : ${ZZXy23AB?"ZZXy23AB has not been set."}

# Same result with: dummy_variable=${ZZXy23AB?}

# dummy_variable=${ZZXy23AB?"ZXy23AB has not been set."}
#
# echo ${ZZXy23AB?} >/dev/null

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Parameter Substitution

echo "You will not see this message, because script terminated above."

HERE=0
exit $HERE # Will *not* exit here.

Parameter substitution and/or expansion. The following expressions are the complement to the match in expr string
operations (see Example 12-6). These particular ones are used mostly in parsing file path names.

Variable length / Substring removal

${#var}

String length (number of characters in $var). For an array, ${#array} is the length of the first element in the
array.

Exceptions:

❍ ${#*} and ${#@} give the number of positional parameters.

❍ For an array, ${#array[*]} and ${#array[@]} give the number of elements in the array.

Example 9-13. Length of a variable

#!/bin/bash
# length.sh

E_NO_ARGS=65

if [ $# -eq 0 ] # Must have command-line args to demo script.

then
echo "Invoke this script with one or more command-line arguments."
exit $E_NO_ARGS
fi

var01=abcdEFGH28ij

echo "var01 = ${var01}"

echo "Length of var01 = ${#var01}"

echo "Number of command-line arguments passed to script = ${#@}"

echo "Number of command-line arguments passed to script = ${#*}"

exit 0

${var#Pattern}, ${var##Pattern}

Remove from $var the shortest/longest part of $Pattern that matches the front end of $var.

A usage illustration from Example A-8:

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Parameter Substitution

# Function from "days-between.sh" example.

# Strips leading zero(s) from argument passed.

strip_leading_zero () # Better to strip possible leading zero(s)

{ # from day and/or month
val=${1#0} # since otherwise Bash will interpret them
return $val # as octal values (POSIX.2, sect 2.9.2.1).
}

Another usage illustration:

echo `basename $PWD` # Basename of current working directory.

echo "${PWD##*/}" # Basename of current working directory.
echo
echo `basename $0` # Name of script.
echo $0 # Name of script.
echo "${0##*/}" # Name of script.
echo
filename=test.data
echo "${filename##*.}" # data
# Extension of filename.

${var%Pattern}, ${var%%Pattern}

Remove from $var the shortest/longest part of $Pattern that matches the back end of $var.

Version 2 of Bash adds additional options.

Example 9-14. Pattern matching in parameter substitution

#!/bin/bash
# Pattern matching using the # ## % %% parameter substitution operators.

var1=abcd12345abc6789
pattern1=a*c # * (wild card) matches everything between a - c.

echo
echo "var1 = $var1" # abcd12345abc6789
echo "var1 = ${var1}" # abcd12345abc6789 (alternate form)
echo "Number of characters in ${var1} = ${#var1}"
echo "pattern1 = $pattern1" # a*c (everything between 'a' and 'c')
echo

echo '${var1#$pattern1} =' "${var1#$pattern1}" # d12345abc6789

# Shortest possible match, strips out first 3 characters abcd12345abc6789
# ^^^^^ |-|
echo '${var1##$pattern1} =' "${var1##$pattern1}" # 6789
# Longest possible match, strips out first 12 characters abcd12345abc6789
# ^^^^^ |----------|

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Parameter Substitution

echo; echo

pattern2=b*9 # everything between 'b' and '9'

echo "var1 = $var1" # Still abcd12345abc6789
echo "pattern2 = $pattern2"
echo

echo '${var1%pattern2} =' "${var1%$pattern2}" # abcd12345a

# Shortest possible match, strips out last 6 characters abcd12345abc6789
# ^^^^ |----|
echo '${var1%%pattern2} =' "${var1%%$pattern2}" # a
# Longest possible match, strips out last 12 characters abcd12345abc6789
# ^^^^ |-------------|

# Remember, # and ## work from the left end of string,

# % and %% work from the right end.

echo

exit 0

Example 9-15. Renaming file extensions:

#!/bin/bash

# rfe
# ---

# Renaming file extensions.

#
# rfe old_extension new_extension
#
# Example:
# To rename all *.gif files in working directory to *.jpg,
# rfe gif jpg

ARGS=2
E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` old_file_suffix new_file_suffix"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

for filename in *.$1

# Traverse list of files ending with 1st argument.
do
mv $filename ${filename%$1}$2
# Strip off part of filename matching 1st argument,
#+ then append 2nd argument.
done

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Parameter Substitution

exit 0

Variable expansion / Substring replacement

These constructs have been adopted from ksh.

${var:pos}

Variable var expanded, starting from offset pos.

${var:pos:len}

Expansion to a max of len characters of variable var, from offset pos. See Example A-14 for an example of the
creative use of this operator.
${var/Pattern/Replacement}

First match of Pattern, within var replaced with Replacement.

If Replacement is omitted, then the first match of Pattern is replaced by nothing, that is, deleted.
${var//Pattern/Replacement}

Global replacement. All matches of Pattern, within var replaced with Replacement.

As above, if Replacement is omitted, then all occurrences of Pattern are replaced by nothing, that is, deleted.

Example 9-16. Using pattern matching to parse arbitrary strings

#!/bin/bash

var1=abcd-1234-defg
echo "var1 = $var1"

t=${var1#*-*}
echo "var1 (with everything, up to and including first - stripped out) = $t"
# t=${var1#*-} works just the same,
#+ since # matches the shortest string,
#+ and * matches everything preceding, including an empty string.
# (Thanks, S. C. for pointing this out.)

t=${var1##*-*}
echo "If var1 contains a \"-\", returns empty string... var1 = $t"

t=${var1%*-*}
echo "var1 (with everything from the last - on stripped out) = $t"

echo

# -------------------------------------------
path_name=/home/bozo/ideas/thoughts.for.today
# -------------------------------------------
echo "path_name = $path_name"
t=${path_name##/*/}
echo "path_name, stripped of prefixes = $t"

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Parameter Substitution

# Same effect as t=`basename $path_name` in this particular case.

# t=${path_name%/}; t=${t##*/} is a more general solution,
#+ but still fails sometimes.
# If $path_name ends with a newline, then `basename $path_name` will not work,
#+ but the above expression will.
# (Thanks, S.C.)

t=${path_name%/*.*}
# Same effect as t=`dirname $path_name`
echo "path_name, stripped of suffixes = $t"
# These will fail in some cases, such as "../", "/foo////", # "foo/", "/".
# Removing suffixes, especially when the basename has no suffix,
#+ but the dirname does, also complicates matters.
# (Thanks, S.C.)

echo

t=${path_name:11}
echo "$path_name, with first 11 chars stripped off = $t"
t=${path_name:11:5}
echo "$path_name, with first 11 chars stripped off, length 5 = $t"

echo

t=${path_name/bozo/clown}
echo "$path_name with \"bozo\" replaced by \"clown\" = $t"
t=${path_name/today/}
echo "$path_name with \"today\" deleted = $t"
t=${path_name//o/O}
echo "$path_name with all o's capitalized = $t"
t=${path_name//o/}
echo "$path_name with all o's deleted = $t"

exit 0

${var/#Pattern/Replacement}

If prefix of var matches Pattern, then substitute Replacement for Pattern.

${var/%Pattern/Replacement}

If suffix of var matches Pattern, then substitute Replacement for Pattern.

Example 9-17. Matching patterns at prefix or suffix of string

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Parameter Substitution

#!/bin/bash
# Pattern replacement at prefix / suffix of string.

v0=abc1234zip1234abc # Original variable.

echo "v0 = $v0" # abc1234zip1234abc
echo

# Match at prefix (beginning) of string.

v1=${v0/#abc/ABCDEF} # abc1234zip1234abc
# |-|
echo "v1 = $v1" # ABCDE1234zip1234abc
# |---|

# Match at suffix (end) of string.

v2=${v0/%abc/ABCDEF} # abc1234zip123abc
# |-|
echo "v2 = $v2" # abc1234zip1234ABCDEF
# |----|

echo

# ----------------------------------------------------
# Must match at beginning / end of string,
#+ otherwise no replacement results.
# ----------------------------------------------------
v3=${v0/#123/000} # Matches, but not at beginning.
echo "v3 = $v3" # abc1234zip1234abc
# NO REPLACEMENT.
v4=${v0/%123/000} # Matches, but not at end.
echo "v4 = $v4" # abc1234zip1234abc
# NO REPLACEMENT.

exit 0

${!varprefix*}, ${!varprefix@}

Matches all previously declared variables beginning with varprefix.

xyz23=whatever
xyz24=

a=${!xyz*} # Expands to names of declared variables beginning with "xyz".

echo "a = $a" # a = xyz23 xyz24
a=${!xyz@} # Same as above.
echo "a = $a" # a = xyz23 xyz24

# Bash, version 2.04, adds this feature.

Notes

[1] If $parameter is null in a non-interactive script, it will terminate with a 127 exit status (the Bash error code code for
"command not found").

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Parameter Substitution

Prev Home Next

Manipulating Strings Up Typing variables: declare or typeset

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Indirect References to Variables

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.5. Indirect References to Variables

Assume that the value of a variable is the name of a second variable. Is it somehow possible to retrieve the value of this
second variable from the first one? For example, if a=letter_of_alphabet and letter_of_alphabet=z,
can a reference to a return z? This can indeed be done, and it is called an indirect reference. It uses the unusual eval
var1=\$$var2 notation.

Example 9-19. Indirect References

#!/bin/bash
# Indirect variable referencing.

a=letter_of_alphabet
letter_of_alphabet=z

echo

# Direct reference.
echo "a = $a"

# Indirect reference.
eval a=\$$a
echo "Now a = $a"

echo

# Now, let's try changing the second order reference.

t=table_cell_3
table_cell_3=24
echo "\"table_cell_3\" = $table_cell_3"
echo -n "dereferenced \"t\" = "; eval echo \$$t
# In this simple case,
# eval t=\$$t; echo "\"t\" = $t"
# also works (why?).

echo

t=table_cell_3
NEW_VAL=387
table_cell_3=$NEW_VAL
echo "Changing value of \"table_cell_3\" to $NEW_VAL."
echo "\"table_cell_3\" now $table_cell_3"
echo -n "dereferenced \"t\" now "; eval echo \$$t
# "eval" takes the two arguments "echo" and "\$$t" (set equal to $table_cell_3)
echo

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Indirect References to Variables

# (Thanks, S.C., for clearing up the above behavior.)

# Another method is the ${!t} notation, discussed in "Bash, version 2" section.
# See also example "ex78.sh".

exit 0

Example 9-20. Passing an indirect reference to awk

#!/bin/bash

# Another version of the "column totaler" script

# that adds up a specified column (of numbers) in the target file.
# This uses indirect references.

ARGS=2
E_WRONGARGS=65

if [ $# -ne "$ARGS" ] # Check for proper no. of command line args.

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename column-number"
exit $E_WRONGARGS
fi

filename=$1
column_number=$2

#===== Same as original script, up to this point =====#

# A multi-line awk script is invoked by awk ' ..... '

# Begin awk script.

# ------------------------------------------------
awk "

{ total += \$${column_number} # indirect reference

}
END {
print total
}

" "$filename"
# ------------------------------------------------
# End awk script.

# Indirect variable reference avoids the hassles

# of referencing a shell variable within the embedded awk script.
# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

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Indirect References to Variables

exit 0

This method of indirect referencing is a bit tricky. If the second order variable changes its value, then the first
order variable must be properly dereferenced (as in the above example). Fortunately, the ${!variable}
notation introduced with version 2 of Bash (see Example 35-2) makes indirect referencing more intuitive.

Prev Home Next

Typing variables: declare or typeset Up $RANDOM: generate random integer

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.6. $RANDOM: generate random integer

$RANDOM is an internal Bash function (not a constant) that returns a pseudorandom integer in the range 0 - 32767.
$RANDOM should not be used to generate an encryption key.

Example 9-21. Generating random numbers

#!/bin/bash

# $RANDOM returns a different random integer at each invocation.

# Nominal range: 0 - 32767 (signed 16-bit integer).

MAXCOUNT=10
count=1

echo
echo "$MAXCOUNT random numbers:"
echo "-----------------"
while [ "$count" -le $MAXCOUNT ] # Generate 10 ($MAXCOUNT) random integers.
do
number=$RANDOM
echo $number
let "count += 1" # Increment count.
done
echo "-----------------"

# If you need a random int within a certain range, use the 'modulo' operator.
# This returns the remainder of a division operation.

RANGE=500

echo

number=$RANDOM
let "number %= $RANGE"
echo "Random number less than $RANGE --- $number"

echo

# If you need a random int greater than a lower bound,

# then set up a test to discard all numbers below that.

FLOOR=200

number=0 #initialize
while [ "$number" -le $FLOOR ]
do
number=$RANDOM
done

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

echo "Random number greater than $FLOOR --- $number"

echo

# May combine above two techniques to retrieve random number between two limits.
number=0 #initialize
while [ "$number" -le $FLOOR ]
do
number=$RANDOM
let "number %= $RANGE" # Scales $number down within $RANGE.
done
echo "Random number between $FLOOR and $RANGE --- $number"
echo

# Generate binary choice, that is, "true" or "false" value.

BINARY=2
number=$RANDOM
T=1

let "number %= $BINARY"

# let "number >>= 14" gives a better random distribution
# (right shifts out everything except last binary digit).
if [ "$number" -eq $T ]
then
echo "TRUE"
else
echo "FALSE"
fi

echo

# May generate toss of the dice.

SPOTS=7 # Modulo 7 gives range 0 - 6.
DICE=2
ZERO=0
die1=0
die2=0

# Tosses each die separately, and so gives correct odds.

while [ "$die1" -eq $ZERO ] # Can't have a zero come up.

do
let "die1 = $RANDOM % $SPOTS" # Roll first one.
done

while [ "$die2" -eq $ZERO ]

do
let "die2 = $RANDOM % $SPOTS" # Roll second one.
done

let "throw = $die1 + $die2"

echo "Throw of the dice = $throw"
echo

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

exit 0

Just how random is RANDOM? The best way to test this is to write a script that tracks the distribution of "random"
numbers generated by RANDOM. Let's roll a RANDOM die a few times...

Example 9-22. Rolling the die with RANDOM

#!/bin/bash
# How random is RANDOM?

RANDOM=$$ # Reseed the random number generator using script process ID.

PIPS=6 # A die has 6 pips.

MAXTHROWS=600 # Increase this, if you have nothing better to do with your time.
throw=0 # Throw count.

zeroes=0 # Must initialize counts to zero.

ones=0 # since an uninitialized variable is null, not zero.
twos=0
threes=0
fours=0
fives=0
sixes=0

print_result ()
{
echo
echo "ones = $ones"
echo "twos = $twos"
echo "threes = $threes"
echo "fours = $fours"
echo "fives = $fives"
echo "sixes = $sixes"
echo
}

update_count()
{
case "$1" in
0) let "ones += 1";; # Since die has no "zero", this corresponds to 1.
1) let "twos += 1";; # And this to 2, etc.
2) let "threes += 1";;
3) let "fours += 1";;
4) let "fives += 1";;
5) let "sixes += 1";;
esac
}

echo

while [ "$throw" -lt "$MAXTHROWS" ]

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

do
let "die1 = RANDOM % $PIPS"
update_count $die1
let "throw += 1"
done

print_result

# The scores should distribute fairly evenly, assuming RANDOM is fairly random.
# With $MAXTHROWS at 600, all should cluster around 100, plus-or-minus 20 or so.
#
# Keep in mind that RANDOM is a pseudorandom generator,
# and not a spectacularly good one at that.

# Exercise (easy):
# ---------------
# Rewrite this script to flip a coin 1000 times.
# Choices are "HEADS" or "TAILS".

exit 0

As we have seen in the last example, it is best to "reseed" the RANDOM generator each time it is invoked. Using the same
seed for RANDOM repeats the same series of numbers. (This mirrors the behavior of the random() function in C.)

Example 9-23. Reseeding RANDOM

#!/bin/bash
# seeding-random.sh: Seeding the RANDOM variable.

MAXCOUNT=25 # How many numbers to generate.

random_numbers ()
{
count=0
while [ "$count" -lt "$MAXCOUNT" ]
do
number=$RANDOM
echo -n "$number "
let "count += 1"
done
}

echo; echo

RANDOM=1 # Setting RANDOM seeds the random number generator.

random_numbers

echo; echo

RANDOM=1 # Same seed for RANDOM...

random_numbers # ...reproduces the exact same number series.
#
# When is it useful to duplicate a "random" number series?

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

echo; echo

RANDOM=2 # Trying again, but with a different seed...

random_numbers # gives a different number series.

echo; echo

# RANDOM=$$ seeds RANDOM from process id of script.

# It is also possible to seed RANDOM from 'time' or 'date' commands.

# Getting fancy...
SEED=$(head -1 /dev/urandom | od -N 1 | awk '{ print $2 }')
# Pseudo-random output fetched
#+ from /dev/urandom (system pseudo-random device-file),
#+ then converted to line of printable (octal) numbers by "od",
#+ finally "awk" retrieves just one number for SEED.
RANDOM=$SEED
random_numbers

echo; echo

exit 0

The /dev/urandom device-file provides a means of generating much more "random" pseudorandom numbers
than the $RANDOM variable. dd if=/dev/urandom of=targetfile bs=1 count=XX creates a file of
well-scattered pseudorandom numbers. However, assigning these numbers to a variable in a script requires a
workaround, such as filtering through od (as in above example) or using dd (see Example 12-41).

There are also other means of generating pseudorandom numbers in a script. Awk provides a convenient means of
doing this.

Example 9-24. Pseudorandom numbers, using awk

#!/bin/bash
# random2.sh: Returns a pseudorandom number in the range 0 - 1.
# Uses the awk rand() function.

AWKSCRIPT=' { srand(); print rand() } '

# Command(s) / parameters passed to awk
# Note that srand() reseeds awk's random number generator.

echo -n "Random number between 0 and 1 = "

echo | awk "$AWKSCRIPT"

exit 0

# Exercises:
# ---------

# 1) Using a loop construct, print out 10 different random numbers.

# (Hint: you must reseed the "srand()" function with a different seed

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$RANDOM: generate random integer

# in each pass through the loop. What happens if you fail to do this?)

# 2) Using an integer multiplier as a scaling factor, generate random numbers

# in the range between 10 and 100.

# 3) Same as exercise #2, above, but generate random integers this time.

Prev Home Next

Indirect References to Variables Up The Double Parentheses Construct

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The Double Parentheses Construct

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 9. Variables Revisited Next

9.7. The Double Parentheses Construct

Similar to the let command, the ((...)) construct permits arithmetic expansion and evaluation. In its simplest form,
a=$(( 5 + 3 )) would set "a" to "5 + 3", or 8. However, this double parentheses construct is also a mechanism
for allowing C-type manipulation of variables in Bash.

Example 9-25. C-type manipulation of variables

#!/bin/bash
# Manipulating a variable, C-style, using the ((...)) construct.

echo

(( a = 23 )) # Setting a value, C-style, with spaces on both sides of the "=".

echo "a (initial value) = $a"

(( a++ )) # Post-increment 'a', C-style.

echo "a (after a++) = $a"

(( a-- )) # Post-decrement 'a', C-style.

echo "a (after a--) = $a"

(( ++a )) # Pre-increment 'a', C-style.

echo "a (after ++a) = $a"

(( --a )) # Pre-decrement 'a', C-style.

echo "a (after --a) = $a"

echo

(( t = a<45?7:11 )) # C-style trinary operator.

echo "If a < 45, then t = 7, else t = 11."
echo "t = $t " # Yes!

echo

# -----------------
# Easter Egg alert!
# -----------------
# Chet Ramey apparently snuck a bunch of undocumented C-style constructs
#+ into Bash (actually adapted from ksh, pretty much).
# In the Bash docs, Ramey calls ((...)) shell arithmetic,
#+ but it goes far beyond that.
# Sorry, Chet, the secret is now out.

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The Double Parentheses Construct

# See also "for" and "while" loops using the ((...)) construct.

# These work only with Bash, version 2.04 or later.

exit 0

See also Example 10-12.

Prev Home Next

$RANDOM: generate random integer Up Loops and Branches

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Redirecting Code Blocks

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 16. I/O Redirection Next

16.2. Redirecting Code Blocks

Blocks of code, such as while, until, and for loops, even if/then test blocks can also incorporate redirection of stdin.
Even a function may use this form of redirection (see Example 23-7). The < operator at the end of the code block
accomplishes this.

Example 16-4. Redirected while loop

#!/bin/bash

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi
#+ Filename=${1:-names.data}
# can replace the above test (parameter substitution).

count=0

echo

while [ "$name" != Smith ] # Why is variable $name in quotes?

do
read name # Reads from $Filename, rather than stdin.
echo $name
let "count += 1"
done <"$Filename" # Redirects stdin to file $Filename.
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^

echo; echo "$count names read"; echo

# Note that in some older shell scripting languages,

#+ the redirected loop would run as a subshell.
# Therefore, $count would return 0, the initialized value outside the loop.
# Bash and ksh avoid starting a subshell whenever possible,
# +so that this script, for example, runs correctly.
#
# Thanks to Heiner Steven for pointing this out.

exit 0

Example 16-5. Alternate form of redirected while loop

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Redirecting Code Blocks

#!/bin/bash

# This is an alternate form of the preceding script.

# Suggested by Heiner Steven

#+ as a workaround in those situations when a redirect loop
#+ runs as a subshell, and therefore variables inside the loop
# +do not keep their values upon loop termination.

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi

exec 3<&0 # Save stdin to file descriptor 3.

exec 0<"$Filename" # Redirect standard input.

count=0
echo

while [ "$name" != Smith ]

do
read name # Reads from redirected stdin ($Filename).
echo $name
let "count += 1"
done <"$Filename" # Loop reads from file $Filename.
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^

exec 0<&3 # Restore old stdin.

exec 3<&- # Close temporary fd 3.

echo; echo "$count names read"; echo

exit 0

Example 16-6. Redirected until loop

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Redirecting Code Blocks

#!/bin/bash
# Same as previous example, but with "until" loop.

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi

# while [ "$name" != Smith ]

until [ "$name" = Smith ] # Change != to =.
do
read name # Reads from $Filename, rather than stdin.
echo $name
done <"$Filename" # Redirects stdin to file $Filename.
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^

# Same results as with "while" loop in previous example.

exit 0

Example 16-7. Redirected for loop

#!/bin/bash

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi

line_count=`wc $Filename | awk '{ print $1 }'`

# Number of lines in target file.
#
# Very contrived and kludgy, nevertheless shows that
#+ it's possible to redirect stdin within a "for" loop...
#+ if you're clever enough.
#
# More concise is line_count=$(wc < "$Filename")

for name in `seq $line_count` # Recall that "seq" prints sequence of numbers.
# while [ "$name" != Smith ] -- more complicated than a "while" loop --
do
read name # Reads from $Filename, rather than stdin.
echo $name
if [ "$name" = Smith ] # Need all this extra baggage here.
then
break
fi

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Redirecting Code Blocks

done <"$Filename" # Redirects stdin to file $Filename.

# ^^^^^^^^^^^^

exit 0

We can modify the previous example to also redirect the output of the loop.

Example 16-8. Redirected for loop (both stdin and stdout redirected)

#!/bin/bash

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi

Savefile=$Filename.new # Filename to save results in.

FinalName=Jonah # Name to terminate "read" on.

line_count=`wc $Filename | awk '{ print $1 }'` # Number of lines in target file.

for name in `seq $line_count`

do
read name
echo "$name"
if [ "$name" = "$FinalName" ]
then
break
fi
done < "$Filename" > "$Savefile" # Redirects stdin to file $Filename,
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and saves it to backup file.

exit 0

Example 16-9. Redirected if/then test

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Redirecting Code Blocks

#!/bin/bash

if [ -z "$1" ]
then
Filename=names.data # Default, if no filename specified.
else
Filename=$1
fi

TRUE=1

if [ "$TRUE" ] # if true and if : also work.

then
read name
echo $name
fi <"$Filename"
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^

# Reads only first line of file.

# An "if/then" test has no way of iterating unless embedded in a loop.

exit 0

Example 16-10. Data file "names.data" for above examples

Aristotle
Belisarius
Capablanca
Euler
Goethe
Hamurabi
Jonah
Laplace
Maroczy
Purcell
Schmidt
Semmelweiss
Smith
Turing
Venn
Wilson
Znosko-Borowski

# This is a data file for

#+ "redir2.sh", "redir3.sh", "redir4.sh", "redir4a.sh", "redir5.sh".

Redirecting the stdout of a code block has the effect of saving its output to a file. See Example 4-2.

Here documents are a special case of redirected code blocks.

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Redirecting Code Blocks

Prev Home Next

Using exec Up Applications

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Applications

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 16. I/O Redirection Next

16.3. Applications
Clever use of I/O redirection permits parsing and stitching together snippets of command output (see Example 11-
5). This permits generating report and log files.

Example 16-11. Logging events

#!/bin/bash
# logevents.sh, by Stephane Chazelas.

# Event logging to a file.

# Must be run as root (for write access in /var/log).

ROOT_UID=0 # Only users with $UID 0 have root privileges.

E_NOTROOT=67 # Non-root exit error.

if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]

then
echo "Must be root to run this script."
exit $E_NOTROOT
fi

FD_DEBUG1=3
FD_DEBUG2=4
FD_DEBUG3=5

# Uncomment one of the two lines below to activate script.

# LOG_EVENTS=1
# LOG_VARS=1

log() # Writes time and date to log file.

{
echo "$(date) $*" >&7 # This *appends* the date to the file.
# See below.
}

case $LOG_LEVEL in
1) exec 3>&2 4> /dev/null 5> /dev/null;;
2) exec 3>&2 4>&2 5> /dev/null;;
3) exec 3>&2 4>&2 5>&2;;

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Applications

*) exec 3> /dev/null 4> /dev/null 5> /dev/null;;

esac

FD_LOGVARS=6
if [[ $LOG_VARS ]]
then exec 6>> /var/log/vars.log
else exec 6> /dev/null # Bury output.
fi

FD_LOGEVENTS=7
if [[ $LOG_EVENTS ]]
then
# then exec 7 >(exec gawk '{print strftime(), $0}' >> /var/log/event.log)
# Above line will not work in Bash, version 2.04.
exec 7>> /var/log/event.log # Append to "event.log".
log # Write time and date.
else exec 7> /dev/null # Bury output.
fi

echo "DEBUG3: beginning" >&${FD_DEBUG3}

ls -l >&5 2>&4 # command1 >&5 2>&4

echo "Done" # command2

echo "sending mail" >&${FD_LOGEVENTS} # Writes "sending mail" to fd #7.

exit 0

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Terminal Control Commands

Communications Commands Up Math Commands

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/dev

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 28. /dev and /proc Next

28.1. /dev
The /dev directory contains entries for the physical devices that may or may not be present in
the hardware. [1] The hard drive partitions containing the mounted filesystem(s) have entries
in /dev, as a simple df shows.

bash$ df
Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use%
Mounted on
/dev/hda6 495876 222748 247527 48% /
/dev/hda1 50755 3887 44248 9% /boot
/dev/hda8 367013 13262 334803 4% /home
/dev/hda5 1714416 1123624 503704 70% /usr

Among other things, the /dev directory also contains loopback devices, such as
/dev/loop0. A loopback device is a gimmick that allows an ordinary file to be accessed as
if it were a block device. [2] This enables mounting an entire filesystem within a single large
file. See Example 13-6 and Example 13-5.

A few of the pseudo-devices in /dev have other specialized uses, such as /dev/null,
/dev/zero and /dev/urandom.

Notes

[1] The entries in /dev provide mount points for physical and virtual devices. These
entries use very little drive space.

Some devices, such as /dev/null, /dev/zero, and /dev/urandom are virtual.

They are not actual physical devices and exist only in software.

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/dev

[2] A block device reads and/or writes data in chunks, or blocks, in contrast to a character
device, which acesses data in character units. Examples of block devices are a hard
drive and CD ROM drive. An example of a character device is a keyboard.

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Interactive and non-interactive shells and scripts

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.1. Interactive and non-interactive

shells and scripts
An interactive shell reads commands from user input on a tty. Among other things, such a shell
reads startup files on activation, displays a prompt, and enables job control by default. The user can
interact with the shell.

A shell running a script is always a non-interactive shell. All the same, the script can still access its
tty. It is even possible to emulate an interactive shell in a script.

#!/bin/bash
MY_PROMPT='$ '
while :
do
echo -n "$MY_PROMPT"
read line
eval "$line"
done

exit 0

# This example script, and much of the above explanation supplied by

# Stephane Chazelas (thanks again).

Let us consider an interactive script to be one that requires input from the user, usually with read
statements (see Example 11-2). "Real life" is actually a bit messier than that. For now, assume an
interactive script is bound to a tty, a script that a user has invoked from the console or an xterm.

Init and startup scripts are necessarily non-interactive, since they must run without human
intervention. Many administrative and system maintenance scripts are likewise non-interactive.
Unvarying repetitive tasks cry out for automation by non-interactive scripts.

Non-interactive scripts can run in the background, but interactive ones hang, waiting for input that
never comes. Handle that difficulty by having an expect script or embedded here document feed input
to an interactive script running as a background job. In the simplest case, redirect a file to supply input
to a read statement (read variable <file). These particular workarounds make possible general

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Interactive and non-interactive shells and scripts

purpose scripts that run in either interactive or non-interactive modes.

If a script needs to test whether it is running in an interactive shell, it is simply a matter of finding
whether the prompt variable, $PS1 is set. (If the user is being prompted for input, then the script needs
to display a prompt.)

if [ -z $PS1 ] # no prompt?
then
# non-interactive
...
else
# interactive
...
fi

Alternatively, the script can test for the presence of option "i" in the $- flag.
case $- in
*i*) # interactive shell
;;
*) # non-interactive shell
;;
# (Courtesy of "UNIX F.A.Q.," 1993)

Scripts may be forced to run in interactive mode with the -i option or with a #!/bin/bash -
i header. Be aware that this can cause erratic script behavior or show error messages even
when no error is present.

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File test operators

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 7. Tests Next

7.2. File test operators

Returns true if...

-e

file exists
-f

file is a regular file (not a directory or device file)

-s

file is not zero size

-d

file is a directory
-b

file is a block device (floppy, cdrom, etc.)

-c

file is a character device (keyboard, modem, sound card, etc.)

-p

file is a pipe
-h

file is a symbolic link

-L

file is a symbolic link

-S

file is a socket
-t

file (descriptor) is associated with a terminal device

This test option may be used to check whether the stdin ([ -t 0 ]) or stdout ([ -t 1 ]) in a given
script is a terminal.
-r

file has read permission (for the user running the test)
-w

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File test operators

file has write permission (for the user running the test)
-x

file has execute permission (for the user running the test)
-g

set-group-id (sgid) flag set on file or directory

If a directory has the sgid flag set, then a file created within that directory belongs to the group that owns the
directory, not necessarily to the group of the user who created the file. This may be useful for a directory shared
by a workgroup.
-u

set-user-id (suid) flag set on file

A binary owned by root with set-user-id flag set runs with root privileges, even when an ordinary user
invokes it. [1] This is useful for executables (such as pppd and cdrecord) that need to access system hardware.
Lacking the suid flag, these binaries could not be invoked by a non-root user.

-rwsr-xr-t 1 root 178236 Oct 2 2000 /usr/sbin/pppd

A file with the suid flag set shows an s in its permissions.

-k

sticky bit set

Commonly known as the "sticky bit", the save-text-mode flag is a special type of file permission. If a file has this
flag set, that file will be kept in cache memory, for quicker access. [2] If set on a directory, it restricts write
permission. Setting the sticky bit adds a t to the permissions on the file or directory listing.

drwxrwxrwt 7 root 1024 May 19 21:26 tmp/

If a user does not own a directory that has the sticky bit set, but has write permission in that directory, he can only
delete files in it that he owns. This keeps users from inadvertently overwriting or deleting each other's files in a
publicly accessible directory, such as /tmp.

-O

you are owner of file

-G

group-id of file same as yours

-N

file modified since it was last read

f1 -nt f2

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File test operators

file f1 is newer than f2

f1 -ot f2

file f1 is older than f2

f1 -ef f2

files f1 and f2 are hard links to the same file

!

"not" -- reverses the sense of the tests above (returns true if condition absent).

Example 29-1, Example 10-7, Example 10-3, Example 29-3, and Example A-2 illustrate uses of the file test operators.

Notes

[1] Be aware that suid binaries may open security holes and that the suid flag has no effect on shell scripts.
[2] On modern UNIX systems, the sticky bit is no longer used for files, only on directories.

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Nested if/then Condition Tests

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 7. Tests Next

7.4. Nested if/then Condition Tests

Condition tests using the if/then construct may be nested. The net result is identical to using the &&
compound comparison operator above.

if [ condition1 ]
then
if [ condition2 ]
then
do-something # But only if both "condition1" and "condition2" valid.
fi
fi

See Example 35-4 for an example of nested if/then condition tests.

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Testing Your Knowledge of Tests

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 7. Tests Next

7.5. Testing Your Knowledge of Tests

The systemwide xinitrc file can be used to launch the X server. This file contains quite a number of if/then
tests, as the following excerpt shows.

if [ -f $HOME/.Xclients ]; then
exec $HOME/.Xclients
elif [ -f /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients ]; then
exec /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients
else
# failsafe settings. Although we should never get here
# (we provide fallbacks in Xclients as well) it can't hurt.
xclock -geometry 100x100-5+5 &
xterm -geometry 80x50-50+150 &
if [ -f /usr/bin/netscape -a -f /usr/share/doc/HTML/index.html ]; then
netscape /usr/share/doc/HTML/index.html &
fi
fi

Explain the "test" constructs in the above excerpt, then examine the entire file, /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc,
and analyze the if/then test constructs there. You may need to refer ahead to the discussions of grep, sed, and
regular expressions.

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Preliminary Exercises

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha-Bang Next

2.2. Preliminary Exercises

1. System administrators often write scripts to automate common tasks. Give several
instances where such scripts would be useful.

2. Write a script that upon invocation shows the time and date, lists all logged-in users,
and gives the system uptime. The script then saves this information to a logfile.

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Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.3. Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives

For tests, the [[ ]] construct may be more appropriate than [ ]. Likewise, arithmetic comparisons might benefit from the ((
)) construct.

a=8

# All of the comparisons below are equivalent.

test "$a" -lt 16 && echo "yes, $a < 16" # "and list"
/bin/test "$a" -lt 16 && echo "yes, $a < 16"
[ "$a" -lt 16 ] && echo "yes, $a < 16"
[[ $a -lt 16 ]] && echo "yes, $a < 16" # Quoting variables within
(( a < 16 )) && echo "yes, $a < 16" # [[ ]] and (( )) not necessary.

city="New York"
# Again, all of the comparisons below are equivalent.
test "$city" \< Paris && echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city" # Greater ASCII
order.
/bin/test "$city" \< Paris && echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city"
[ "$city" \< Paris ] && echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city"
[[ $city < Paris ]] && echo "Yes, Paris is greater than $city" # Need not quote
$city.

# Thank you, S.C.

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Invoking the script

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha-Bang Next

2.1. Invoking the script

Having written the script, you can invoke it by sh scriptname, [1] or alternatively
bash scriptname. (Not recommended is using sh <scriptname, since this
effectively disables reading from stdin within the script.) Much more convenient is to
make the script itself directly executable with a chmod.

Either:

chmod 555 scriptname (gives everyone read/execute permission) [2]

or

chmod +rx scriptname (gives everyone read/execute permission)

chmod u+rx scriptname (gives only the script owner read/execute

permission)

Having made the script executable, you may now test it by ./scriptname. [3] If it
begins with a "sha-bang" line, invoking the script calls the correct command interpreter to
run it.

As a final step, after testing and debugging, you would likely want to move it to
/usr/local/bin (as root, of course), to make the script available to yourself and all
other users as a system-wide executable. The script could then be invoked by simply typing
scriptname [ENTER] from the command line.

Notes

[1] Caution: invoking a Bash script by sh scriptname turns off Bash-specific

extensions, and the script may therefore fail to execute.
[2] A script needs read, as well as execute permission for it to run, since the shell needs to
be able to read it.

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Invoking the script

[3] Why not simply invoke the script with scriptname? If the directory you are in
($PWD) is where scriptname is located, why doesn't this work? This fails because, for
security reasons, the current directory, "." is not included in a user's $PATH. It is
therefore necessary to explicitly invoke the script in the current directory with a
./scriptname.

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Portability Issues

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.8. Portability Issues

This book deals specifically with Bash scripting on a GNU/Linux system. All the same,
users of sh and ksh will find much of value here.

As it happens, many of the various shells and scripting languages seem to be converging
toward the POSIX 1003.2 standard. Invoking Bash with the --posix option or inserting a
set -o posix at the head of a script causes Bash to conform very closely to this standard.
Even lacking this measure, most Bash scripts will run as-is under ksh, and vice-versa, since
Chet Ramey has been busily porting ksh features to the latest versions of Bash.

On a commercial UNIX machine, scripts using GNU-specific features of standard

commands may not work. This has become less of a problem in the last few years, as the
GNU utilities have pretty much displaced their proprietary counterparts even on "big-iron"
UNIX. Caldera's recent release of the source to many of the original UNIX utilities will only
accelerate the trend.

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Windows

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Optimizations

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.4. Optimizations
Most shell scripts are quick 'n dirty solutions to non-complex problems. As such, optimizing
them for speed is not much of an issue. Consider the case, though, where a script carries out
an important task, does it well, but runs too slowly. Rewriting it in a compiled language may
not be a palatable option. The simplest fix would be to rewrite the parts of the script that
slow it down. Is it possible to apply principles of code optimization even to a lowly shell
script?

Check the loops in the script. Time consumed by repetitive operations adds up quickly. If at
all possible, remove time-consuming operations from within loops.

Use builtin commands in preference to system commands. Builtins execute faster and
usually do not launch a subshell when invoked.

Use the time and times tools to profile computation-intensive commands. Consider rewriting
time-critical code sections in C, or even in assembler.

Try to minimize file I/O. Bash is not particularly efficient at handling files, so consider
using more appropriate tools for this within the script, such as awk or Perl.

Write your scripts in a structured, coherent form, so they can be reorganized and tightened
up as necessary. Some of the optimization techniques applicable to high-level languages
may work for scripts, but others, such as loop unrolling, are mostly irrelevant. Above all,
use common sense.

For an excellent demonstration of how optimization can drastically reduce the execution
time of a script, see Example 12-32.

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Alternatives

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Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 33. Scripting With Style Next

33.1. Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet

● Comment your code. This makes it easier for others to understand (and appreciate), and easier for you to maintain.

PASS="$PASS${MATRIX:$(($RANDOM%${#MATRIX})):1}"
# It made perfect sense when you wrote it last year, but now it's a complete mystery.
# (From Antek Sawicki's "pw.sh" script.)

Add descriptive headers to your scripts and functions.

#!/bin/bash

#************************************************#
# xyz.sh
# written by Bozo Bozeman
# July 05, 2001

# Clean up project files.

#************************************************#

BADDIR=65 # No such directory.

projectdir=/home/bozo/projects # Directory to clean up.

#-------------------------------------------------------#
# cleanup_pfiles ()
# Removes all files in designated directory.
# Parameter: $target_directory
# Returns: 0 on success, $BADDIR if something went wrong.
#-------------------------------------------------------#
cleanup_pfiles ()
{
if [ ! -d "$1" ] # Test if target directory exists.
then
echo "$1 is not a directory."
return $BADDIR
fi

rm -f "$1"/*
return 0 # Success.
}

cleanup_pfiles $projectdir

exit 0

Be sure to put the #!/bin/bash at the beginning of the first line of the script, preceding any comment headers.

● Avoid using "magic numbers", [1] that is, "hard-wired" literal constants. Use meaningful variable names instead. This makes
the script easier to understand and permits making changes and updates without breaking the application.

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Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet

if [ -f /var/log/messages ]
then
...
fi
# A year later, you decide to change the script to check /var/log/syslog.
# It is now necessary to manually change the script, instance by instance,
# and hope nothing breaks.

# A better way:
LOGFILE=/var/log/messages # Only line that needs to be changed.
if [ -f "$LOGFILE" ]
then
...
fi

● Choose descriptive names for variables and functions.

fl=`ls -al $dirname` # Cryptic.

file_listing=`ls -al $dirname` # Better.

MAXVAL=10 # All caps used for a script constant.

while [ "$index" -le "$MAXVAL" ]
...

E_NOTFOUND=75 # Uppercase for an errorcode,

# and name begins with "E_".
if [ ! -e "$filename" ]
then
echo "File $filename not found."
exit $E_NOTFOUND
fi

MAIL_DIRECTORY=/var/spool/mail/bozo # Uppercase for an environmental variable.

export MAIL_DIRECTORY

GetAnswer () # Mixed case works well for a function.

{
prompt=$1
echo -n $prompt
read answer
return $answer
}

GetAnswer "What is your favorite number? "

favorite_number=$?
echo $favorite_number

_uservariable=23 # Permissable, but not recommended.

# It's better for user-defined variables not to start with an underscore.
# Leave that for system variables.

● Use exit codes in a systematic and meaningful way.

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Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet

E_WRONG_ARGS=65
...
...
exit $E_WRONG_ARGS

See also Appendix C.

● Break complex scripts into simpler modules. Use functions where appropriate. See Example 35-4.
● Don't use a complex construct where a simpler one will do.

COMMAND
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
...
# Redundant and non-intuitive.

if COMMAND
...
# More concise (if perhaps not quite as legible).

Notes

[1] In this context, " magic numbers" have an entirely different meaning than the magic numbers used to designate file types.

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Security Issues

Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

Prev Chapter 34. Miscellany Next

34.7. Security Issues

A brief warning about script security is appropriate. A shell script may contain a worm,
trojan, or even a virus. For that reason, never run as root a script (or permit it to be inserted
into the system startup scripts in /etc/rc.d) unless you have obtained said script from a
trusted source or you have carefully analyzed it to make certain it does nothing harmful.

Various researchers at Bell Labs and other sites, including M. Douglas McIlroy, Tom Duff,
and Fred Cohen have investigated the implications of shell script viruses. They conclude
that it is all to easy for even a novice, a "script kiddie", to write one. [1]

Here is yet another reason to learn scripting. Being able to look at and understand scripts
may protect your system from being hacked or damaged.

Notes

[1] See Marius van Oers' article, Unix Shell Scripting Malware, and also the Denning
reference in the bibliography.

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