C/CPS 393

Introduction to UNIX, C and C++

Prof. Alex Ufkes

Topic 5: Bash debugging, other odds & ends

 Notice!

Obligatory copyright notice in the age of digital

delivery and online classrooms:

The copyright to this original work is held by Alex Ufkes. Students

registered in course C/CPS 393 can use this material for the purposes
of this course but no other use is permitted, and there can be no sale
or transfer or use of the work for any other purpose without explicit
permission of Alex Ufkes.

© Alex Ufkes, 2022 2

 Course Administration

Study week is Oct 8-14, no classes or labs!

© Alex Ufkes, 2022 3

 Today

Linux
Odds & Ends

© Alex Ufkes, 2022 4

 Reading

We can read from files, we can read from the keyboard

read line < fn

Variable to File to read from

read to Using redirection

By default, one line is read at a time from stdin

Returns nonzero value (in $?) if at EOF

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 Reading

Returns nonzero value (in $?) if at EOF

tmp is empty
Hits EOF immediately

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 Reading from the same file in subsequent
read commands starts from beginning

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 Reading

Options:

read -n1 char # read returns after reading 1 character

read -nX chars # read returns after reading X characters

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 Reading

Words VS Lines
read arg1 arg2 rest
First word is read into arg1, second word into arg2, the rest of the line into rest

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 Reading

read

var="hi there"
echo $var | read x y
echo $x $y #prints nothing!!

echo $var | while read x y ; do

Workaround? echo $x $y #prints hi there
Use a while loop: done
#but $x, $y only have value INSIDE loop

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 Reading

echo $var | while read x y ; do

Workaround? echo $x $y #prints hi there
Use a while loop: done
#but $x, $y only have value INSIDE loop

echo $var | (read x y; echo $x $y)

Workaround #2
# prints hi there, but again,
Use subshell:
# $x and $y only have value INSIDE ()

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 Reading

Useful example? #!/bin/bash

Ask for forgotten if [ $# -eq 0 ]
arguments:
then
echo "Enter filename"
read fn
else
fn=$1
fi
cp $fn ${fn}.bak
exit 0
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 Testing & Debugging

We still have tools at our disposal!

Execute program using bash manually
and add options.

bash -v pgm displays every line of pgm just before executing it

bash -x pgm Like -v but substitutes values of variables in each line

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 #!/bin/bash
#Source: findtrunc
# truncates $1 to 8 characters and searches for it in
# hello.txt a msg is printed to indicate if found/not found

trunc=`echo "$1" | cut -c1-8`

if [ "`grep $trunc hello.txt`" ]
then
echo found
else
echo not found
fi

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 What happens if we forget the argument?
trunc is nothing, because $1 is nothing
grep searches for hello.txt in stdin

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 Terminal is frozen (seemingly)
If you type stuff, hit enter, still nothing happens.
grep is waiting for EOF

hello
world
ctrl-d

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 Use bash -x

We can see the sequence of

commands that caused the issue!
trunc is nothing,
grep is looking for hello.txt

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 If we care to make our script robust to this issue, we can add an enclosing if:

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 Odds & Ends: shift

#!/bin/bash
#Source: shiftex
#pgm to print its args.
while [ "$1" ] #<--- stops when $1 is null
do
echo "$1" #<--- so spaces preserved
shift #<--- moves $2 to $1, $3 to $2 etc.
done
exit 0

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 Odds & Ends: xargs

Takes output of one command, passes as argument into another.

Deceptively similar to pipes, but not the same!
Pipes redirect input, not the same as passing args.

Example: List lines containing 'bash' from all files whose NAME
starts with 'f', where files are located anywhere in the filetree
under current directory

Those files need to be passed into grep as arguments

Redirection using a pipe only applies to a single input source/file

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 Odds & Ends: xargs

Example: List lines containing 'bash' from all files whose NAME
starts with 'f', where files are located anywhere in the filetree
under current directory

find . -type f -name "f*" | xargs grep bash

By type: By name:
Find in file starting Output piped into xargs,
current which calls grep with that
directory output as args to grep

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 Odds & Ends: xargs

Example: List lines containing 'bash' from all files whose NAME
starts with 'f', where files are located anywhere in the filetree
under current directory

find . -type f -name "f*" | xargs grep bash

Prints LINES in files f* that contain the string bash.

Assuming only such files were ./f1, ./f2, and ./f3, would
end up running: grep bash ./f1 ./f2 ./f3

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 find . -type f -name "f*" | xargs grep bash

-VS-
find . -type f -name "f*" | grep bash

The one without xargs is going to grep on the output

stream of find, NOT the files themselves!
It will find file NAMES that contain bash, not file CONTENTS

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 Odds & Ends: xargs

find . -type d -empty | xargs rmdir

Find empty directories (use the empty option)
Results of find become arguments to rmdir

ls | xargs
If no command is given to xargs, default is echo
If current dir contains files a, b, c
What ends up running is echo a b c

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 Odds & Ends: xargs I{}

The I option runs the command multiple

times, once per item in stdin
{} is substituted in the command for the item

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 Odds & Ends: xargs I{}

Another example:

s | xargs -I{} cp {} {}.bak

Make backup copy of all files in current dir.

Assuming current dir contains only entries a, b, c
Runs: cp a a.bak ; cp b b.bak ; cp c c.bak

Note: If there are directories, the copy will fail with a msg
to stderr (can of course redirect 2>/dev/null).
Xargs then just continues with the next item.

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 (echo a b c; echo d e; echo f) | xargs -I{} echo :{}:

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 Practice Problem

Write a shell program called clean that removes all files

named "core" from your directory structure, and also removes
all files that have size 0 (0 bytes) from your dir structure.
That is your WHOLE dir structure, not just the current dir.
Hint: "find" can find files that are zero bytes long.

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 Shell Built-in Commands

are built-in shell commands (echo,

pwd, cd, test, read, etc.)

Just because a command is available in

the shell, does not mean it is a built-in
command

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 More Built-ins: eval

Consider the following variable:

v1="cat hello.txt | grep Alex"
Suppose we want to run this
as a command? Try: $v1

cat hello.txt succeeds,

but fails at the |
Because the | is not
recognized as a pipe
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 More Built-ins: eval

Consider the following variable:

v1="cat hello.txt | grep Alex"
Use eval instead:

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 More Built-ins: eval

Another: v1="cat hello.txt | grep 3"

v2="grep 9 | more "

We want to execute: cat hello.txt | grep 3 | grep 9 | more

$v1 | $v2 | inside v1 and v2 not

recognized as pipes

eval "$v1 | $v2" Eval makes two passes:

1) Make variable substitutions:
eval "cat fn
2) Result evaluated, meta chars etc. interpreted

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 More Built-ins: eval

eval "$v1 | $v2"

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 This program expects a bunch of command line arguments.
It prompts the user and reads an integer (call it X)
It then prints the Xth command line argument

#!/bin/bash
# Source: printXth
echo -n "enter an integer: "
read X
the_arg='$'${X}
echo "arg number ${X} is: ${the_arg}"
eval echo "arg number ${X} is: ${the_arg}"

note the difference in output:

echo "arg number ${X} is: ${the_arg}"
eval echo "arg number ${X} is: ${the_arg}"

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 X is a variable, $X gets us that value
To expand that integer digit as a
variable itself, we need a $ in front.
Hence: the_arg

Like saying: the_arg

Need eval to get the value of $4

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 Shell Commands

Shell commands -VS- Built-in commands

Shell commands are built into the shell, available no matter

what happens to be installed on the system.
If we have the shell, we have the built-in commands
Shell commands are found somewhere in the PATH variable.
Usually a bin/ directory of some sort.
Commands built into the shell, VS commands that can be
used in the shell.

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 Shell Commands

Shell commands -VS- Built-in commands

echo is both!
The shell recognizes it as a built-in, but the
version of echo that gets called is in /bin
Test this using which:

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 Shell Commands

When executing a shell command, the PATH is searched.

If you want to add a folder to your PATH, you can update
the PATH variable like so:

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 .bash_profile VS .bashrc

We talked about how .bash_profile executes when

logging into a new shell (via ssh for example)
If you want to add your home dir to your path when
you log in, you can place this in .bash_profile

PATH=${PATH}:${HOME}/bin

.bash_rc, on the other hand, runs when you open a

new terminal window locally.
For example, opening terminal from Ubuntu desktop.
Putty in windows is a login shell (.bash_profile)

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 export PATH

PATH=${PATH}:${HOME}/bin
export PATH

Exporting PATH makes it global, so all subsequent

processes spawned in that terminal can access it
Not just the current shell

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 Searching PATH

Directories in the PATH variable are checked in order.

Thus, if two folders contain the same command, then the
command from the folder that appears first will execute

For example:
if you write your own rm in ~userid/bin/rm
to use instead of /bin/rm
you must put YOUR ~userid/bin before /bin
in PATH, or /bin/rm will always be executed.

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 Searching PATH

PATH=${PATH}:${HOME}/bin
-VS-
PATH=${HOME}/bin:${PATH}

Now your home bin folder appears first.

Of course, you could also just write an alias function!

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 More Shell Variables

We know how to set (declare) them:

a=Hello

c=123 →
string containing
digit
123
declare i c=123 →
integer

Using an unset variable does not result

in an immediate runtime error.

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 More Shell Variables

Problem:
Referencing a variable before it is assigned a value (programmer error)
It will be null, and the shell program using it may behave unexpectedly

grep "$var" fname

If $var is unset, we get: grep "" fname

fname.
Probably not what you wanted

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 More Shell Variables

Error VS null for unset variables?

set u # If any variable unset, referencing it causes error message

set +u # No error message for unset var

Fix previous example:

set u
grep "$var" fname
-bash: var: unbound variable

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 Default Variable Values

${ var:=value }

Place in a script. If variable is not set, it will have the default value.
If the variable was set and exported, it will have set value.

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 Default Variable Values

DO NOT RUN THIS!!

What does this do

[
if $temp

""
"
•, ,
↳ win naming
ad .

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 cd without an argument takes
you to your home directory
If $temp is not set, what
happens when we do cd $temp
erase your home directory
and all its contents

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 Default Variable Values

Fix using default variable value:

test -d ~/tmp || mkdir ~/tmp

cd ${temp:=~/tmp}
rm *
cd ..
rmdir $temp

Clunky, but at least this way if you accidentally unset $temp,

it erases a newly created directory called ~/tmp

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 Default Variable Values

Cleaner, using if in a script:

of

another
way command
test is

if [ -
cd $temp
rm *
cd ..
rmdir $temp
fi

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 More fun with set

We can set manually. Good for iteration:

set "val1" "val2"... #sets $1 to "val1", $2 to "val2" ...

set - * # Sets $1, $2, $3 ... to all files in current directory

Expands as Glob construct

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 Here Documents

while [ true ]
do Use string between here tags as input to cat.
clear Notice the << redirection
cat << here
MAIN MENU
1) Print working dir.
2) List all entries in current dir.
3) Print date & time
4) Display contents of file
X) Exit
here

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 character does get executiveed new line is omitted
escape so .

echo -e "Please enter selection ${LOGNAME}: \c"

↓
read selection username

case $selection in
while [ true ] 1) pwd ;;
do
2) ls ;;
clear
cat << here 3) date ;;
MAIN MENU 4) echo -e "Enter a file name: \c"
file
1) Print working dir. read fname
a
.

it is
it
-
2) List all entries in current dir.
if [ -f $fname ]; then
3) Print date & time
4) Display contents of file echo "Contents of $fname are: "
X) Exit more $fname
here else
echo "file $fname does not exist"
fi ;;
X) exit 0 ;;
*) echo -e "Invalid choice. Try again \a" ;;
esac
echo -e "\n Press return to continue \c"
read hold
done
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