How to write shell script

Following steps are required to write shell script:

(1) Use any editor like vi or mcedit to write shell script.
(2) AIter writing shell script set execute permission Ior your script as Iollows
svntax.
chmod permission your-script-name
Examples.
$ chmod +x your-script-name
$ chmod 755 your-script-name
Aote: This will set read write execute(7) permission Ior owner, Ior group and other
permission is read and execute only(5).
(3) Execute your script as
svntax.
bash your-script-name
sh your-script-name
./your-script-name
Examples.
$ bash bar
$ sh bar
$ ./bar
AO1E In the last syntax ./ means current directory, But only . (dot) means execute given
command Iile in current shell without starting the new copy oI shell, The syntax Ior .
(dot) command is as Iollows
Svntax.
. command-name
Example.
$ . foo
Now you are ready to write Iirst shell script that will print "Knowledge is Power" on
screen. See the common vi command list , iI you are new to vi.
$ vi first
#
# My first shell script
#
clear
echo "Knowledge is Power"
AIter saving the above script, you can run the script as Iollows:
$ ./first
This will not run script since we have not set execute permission Ior our script first; to do
this type command
$ chmod 755 first
$ ./first
First screen will be clear, then Knowledge is Power is printed on screen.
Script Command(s) Meaning
$ vi Iirst Start vi editor
#
# My Iirst shell script
#
# Iollowed by any text is considered
as comment. Comment gives more
inIormation about script, logical
explanation about shell script.
Svntax.
# comment-text
clear clear the screen
echo "Knowledge is Power"
To print message or value oI
variables on screen, we use echo
command, general Iorm oI echo
command is as Iollows
svntax.
echo "Message"
How Shell Locates the Iile (My own bin directory to execute script)
1ip: For shell script Iile try to give Iile extension such as .sh, which can be easily
identiIied by you as shell script.
Exercise:
1)Write Iollowing shell script, save it, execute it and note down the it's output.
$ vi ginfo
#
#
# Script to print user information who currently login , current date &
time
#
clear
echo "Hello $USER"
echo "Today is \c ";date
echo "Number of user login : \c" ; who | wc -l
echo "Calendar"
cal
exit 0
Future Point: At the end why statement exit 0 is used? See exit status Ior more
inIormation.
Variables in Shell
To process our data/inIormation, data must be kept in computers RAM memory. RAM
memory is divided into small locations, and each location had unique number called
memory location/address, which is used to hold our data. Programmer can give a unique
name to this memory location/address called memory variable or variable (Its a named
storage location that may take diIIerent values, but only one at a time).
In Linux (Shell), there are two types oI variable:
(1) System variables - Created and maintained by Linux itselI. This type oI variable
deIined in CAPITAL LETTERS.
(2) User defined variables (UDV) - Created and maintained by user. This type oI
variable deIined in lower letters.
You can see system variables by giving command like $ set, some oI the important
System variables are:
System Variable Meaning
BASH/bin/bash Our shell name
BASHVERSION1.14.7(1) Our shell version name
COLUMNS80 No. oI columns Ior our screen
HOME/home/vivek Our home directory
LINES25 No. oI columns Ior our screen
LOGNAMEstudents students Our logging name
OSTYPELinux Our Os type
PATH/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin Our path settings
PS1|\u\h \W|\$ Our prompt settings
PWD/home/students/Common Our current working directory
SHELL/bin/bash Our shell name
USERNAMEvivek User name who is currently login to this PC
AO1E that Some oI the above settings can be diIIerent in your PC/Linux environment.
You can print any oI the above variables contains as Iollows:
$ echo $USERNAME
$ echo $HOME
Exercise:
1) II you want to print your home directory location then you give command:
a)$ echo $HOME
OR
(b)$ echo HOME
Which oI the above command is correct & why? Click here Ior answer.
Caution: Do not modiIy System variable this can some time create problems.
How to define User defined variables
(UDV)
To deIine UDV use Iollowing syntax
Svntax.
variable namevalue
'value' is assigned to given 'variable name' and Value must be on right side sign.
Example.
$ no=10# this is ok
$ 10=no# Error, NOT Ok, Value must be on right side oI sign.
To deIine variable called 'vech' having value Bus
$ vech=Bus
To deIine variable called n having value 10
$ n=10
Rules for Naming variable name (Both
UDV and System Variable)
(1) Variable name must begin with Alphanumeric character or underscore character (),
Iollowed by one or more Alphanumeric character. For e.g. Valid shell variable are as
Iollows
HOME
SYSTEM_VERSION
vech
no
(2) Don't put spaces on either side oI the equal sign when assigning value to variable. For
e.g. In Iollowing variable declaration there will be no error
$ no=10
But there will be problem Ior any oI the Iollowing variable declaration:
$ no =10
$ no= 10
$ no = 10
(3) Variables are case-sensitive, just like Iilename in Linux. For e.g.
$ no=10
$ No=11
$ NO=20
$ nO=2
Above all are diIIerent variable name, so to print value 20 we have to use $ echo $NO
and not any oI the Iollowing
$ echo $no # will print 10 but not 20
$ echo $No# will print 11 but not 20
$ echo $nO# will print 2 but not 20
(4) You can deIine NULL variable as Iollows (NULL variable is variable which has no
value at the time oI deIinition) For e.g.
$ vech
$ vech""
Try to print it's value by issuing Iollowing command
$ echo $vech
Nothing will be shown because variable has no value i.e. NULL variable.
(5) Do not use ?,` etc, to name your variable names.
How to print or access value of UDV
(User defined variables)
To print or access UDV use Iollowing syntax
Svntax.
$variablename
DeIine variable vech and n as Iollows:
$ vech=Bus
$ n=10
To print contains oI variable 'vech' type
$ echo $vech
It will print 'Bus',To print contains oI variable 'n' type command as Iollows
$ echo $n
Caution: Do not try $ echo vech, as it will print vech instead its value 'Bus' and $ echo
n, as it will print n instead its value '10', You must use $ followed bv variable name.
Exercise
Q.1.How to DeIine variable x with value 10 and print it on screen.
Q.2.How to DeIine variable xn with value Rani and print it on screen
Q.3.How to print sum oI two numbers, let's say 6 and 3?
Q.4.How to deIine two variable x20, y5 and then to print division oI x and y (i.e. x/y)
Q.5.ModiIy above and store division oI x and y to variable called z
Q.6.Point out error iI any in Iollowing script
$ vi variscript
#
#
# Script to test MY knowledge about variables!
#
myname=Vivek
myos = TroubleOS
myno=5
echo "My name is $myname"
echo "My os is $myos"
echo "My number is myno, can you see this number"
echo Command
Use echo command to display text or value oI variable.
echo |options| |string, variables...|
Displays text or variables value on screen.
Options
-n Do not output the trailing new line.
-e Enable interpretation oI the Iollowing backslash escaped characters in the strings:
\a alert (bell)
\b backspace
\c suppress trailing new line
\n new line
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\\ backslash
For e.g. $ echo -e "An apple a day keeps away \a\t\tdoctor\n"
Shell Arithmetic
Use to perIorm arithmetic operations.
Svntax.
expr op1 math-operator op2
Examples.
$ expr 1 + 3
$ expr 2 - 1
$ expr 10 / 2
$ expr 20 % 3
$ expr 10 \* 3
$ echo `expr 6 + 3`
Note:
expr 20 3 - Remainder read as 20 mod 3 and remainder is 2.
expr 10 \* 3 - Multiplication use \* and not * since its wild card.
For the last statement not the Iollowing points
(1) First, beIore expr keyword we used ` (back quote) sign not the (single quote i.e. ')
sign. Back quote is generally Iound on the key under tilde (~) on PC keyboard OR to the
above oI TAB key.
(2) Second, expr is also end with ` i.e. back quote.
(3) Here expr 6 3 is evaluated to 9, then echo command prints 9 as sum
(4) Here iI you use double quote or single quote, it will NOT work
For e.g.
$ echo "expr 6 + 3" # It will print expr 6 3
$ echo 'expr 6 + 3' # It will print expr 6 3
More about Quotes
There are three types oI quotes
Quotes Name Meaning
"
Double
Quotes
"Double Quotes" - Anything enclose in double quotes removed
meaning oI that characters (except \ and $).
'
Single
quotes
'Single quotes' - Enclosed in single quotes remains unchanged.
` Back quote
`Back quote` - To execute command
Example:
$ echo "Today is date"
Can't print message with today's date.
$ echo "Today is `date`".
It will print today's date as, Today is Tue Jan ....,Can you see that the `date` statement
uses back quote?
Exit Status
By deIault in Linux iI particular command/shell script is executed, it return two type oI
values which is used to see whether command or shell script executed is successIul or
not.
(1) II return value is :ero (0), command is successIul.
(2) II return value is non:ero, command is not successIul or some sort oI error executing
command/shell script.
This value is know as Exit Status.
But how to Iind out exit status oI command or shell script?
Simple, to determine this exit Status you can use $? special variable oI shell.
For e.g. (This example assumes that unknow1file doest not exist on your hard drive)
$ rm unknow1file
It will show error as Iollows
rm: cannot remove `unkowm1Iile': No such Iile or directory
and aIter that iI you give command
$ echo $?
it will print nonzero value to indicate error. Now give command
$ ls
$ echo $?
It will print 0 to indicate command is successIul.
Exercise
Try the Iollowing commands and not down the exit status:
$ expr 1 + 3
$ echo $?
$ echo Welcome
$ echo $?
$ wildwest canwork?
$ echo $?
$ date
$ echo $?
$ echon $?
$ echo $?
The read Statement
Use to get input (data Irom user) Irom keyboard and store (data) to variable.
Svntax.
read variable1, variable2,...variableN
Following script Iirst ask user, name and then waits to enter name Irom the user via
keyboard. Then user enters name Irom keyboard (aIter giving name you have to press
ENTER key) and entered name through keyboard is stored (assigned) to variable Iname.
$ vi sayH
#
#Script to read your name from key-board
#
echo "Your first name please:"
read fname
echo "Hello $fname, Lets be friend!"
Run it as Iollows:
$ chmod 755 sayH
$ ./sayH
Your first name please. vivek
Hello vivek, Lets be friend'
Wild cards (Filename Shorthand or meta
Characters)
Wild card
/Shorthand
Meaning Examples
$ ls ` will show all Iiles
$ ls a`
will show all Iiles
whose Iirst name is
starting with letter 'a'
$ ls `.c
will show all Iiles
having extension .c
`
Matches any string or group
oI characters.
$ ls ut`.c
will show all Iiles
having extension .c
but Iile name must
begin with 'ut'.
$ ls ?
will show all Iiles
whose names are 1
character long
? Matches any single character.
$ ls fo? will show all Iiles
whose names are 3
character long and
Iile name begin with
Io
...]
Matches any one oI the
enclosed characters
$ ls abc]`
will show all Iiles
beginning with letters
a,b,c
Note:
|..-..| A pair oI characters separated by a minus sign denotes a range.
Example:
$ ls /bin/a-c]`
Will show all Iiles name beginning with letter a,b or c like
/bin/arch /bin/awk /bin/bsh /bin/chmod /bin/cp
/bin/ash /bin/basename /bin/cat /bin/chown /bin/cpio
/bin/ash.static /bin/bash /bin/chgrp /bin/consolechars /bin/csh
But
$ ls /bin/!a-o]
$ ls /bin/^a-o]
II the Iirst character Iollowing the | is a ! or a ` ,then any character not enclosed is
matched i.e. do not show us Iile name that beginning with a,b,c,e...o, like
/bin/ps /bin/rvi /bin/sleep /bin/touch /bin/view
/bin/pwd /bin/rview /bin/sort /bin/true /bin/wcomp
/bin/red /bin/sayHello /bin/stty /bin/umount /bin/xconI
/bin/remadmin /bin/sed /bin/su /bin/uname /bin/ypdomainname
/bin/rm /bin/setserial /bin/sync /bin/userconI /bin/zcat
/bin/rmdir /bin/sIxload /bin/tar /bin/usleep
/bin/rpm /bin/sh /bin/tcsh /bin/vi
More command on one command line
Svntax.
command1;command2
To run two command with one command line.
Examples.
$ date;who
Will print today's date Iollowed by users who are currently login. Note that You can't use
$ date who
Ior same purpose, you must put semicolon in between date and who command.
Command Line Processing
Try the Iollowing command (assumes that the Iile "grate_stories_of" is not exist on your
system)
$ ls grate_stories_of
It will print message something like - gratestoriesof. No such file or directorv.
ls is the name oI an actual command and shell executed this command when you type
command at shell prompt. Now it creates one more question What are commands?
What happened when you type $ ls gratestoriesof ?
The Iirst word on command line is, ls - is name oI the command to be executed.
Everything else on command line is taken as arguments to this command. For e.g.
$ tail +10 myf
Name oI command is tail, and the arguments are +10 and myf.
Exercise
Try to determine command and arguments Irom Iollowing commands
$ ls foo
$ cp y y.bak
$ mv y.bak y.okay
$ tail -10 myf
$ mail raj
$ sort -r -n myf
$ date
$ clear
Answer:
Command
No. of argument to this
command (i.e $#)
Actual Argument
ls 1 Ioo
cp 2 y and y.bak
mv 2 y.bak and y.okay
tail 2 -10 and myI
mail 1 raj
sort 3 -r, -n, and myI
date 0
clear 0
NOTE:
$# holds number oI arguments speciIied on command line. And $` or $ reIer to all
arguments passed to script.
Why Command Line arguments required
1. Telling the command/utility which option to use.
2. InIorming the utility/command which Iile or group oI Iiles to process
(reading/writing oI Iiles).
Let's take rm command, which is used to remove Iile, but which Iile you want to remove
and how you will tail this to rm command (even rm command don't ask you name oI Iile
that you would like to remove). So what we do is we write command as Iollows:
$ rm file-name]
Here rm is command and Iilename is Iile which you would like to remove. This way you
tail rm command which Iile you would like to remove. So we are doing one way
communication with our command by speciIying Iilename Also you can pass command
line arguments to your script to make it more users Iriendly. But how we access
command line argument in our script.
Lets take ls command
$ Ls -a /`
This command has 2 command line argument -a and /* is another. For shell script,
$ myshell foo bar
Shell Script name i.e. myshell
First command line argument passed to myshell i.e. Ioo
Second command line argument passed to myshell i.e. bar
In shell iI we wish to reIer this command line argument we reIer above as Iollows
myshell it is $0
Ioo it is $1
bar it is $2
Here $# (built in shell variable ) will be 2 (Since Ioo and bar only two Arguments),
Please note at a time such 9 arguments can be used Irom $1..$9, You can also reIer all oI
them by using $* (which expand to `$1,$2...$9`). Note that $1..$9 i.e command line
arguments to shell script is know as "positional parameters".
Exercise
Try to write Iollowing Ior commands
Shell Script Name ($0),
No. oI Arguments (i.e. $#),
And actual argument (i.e. $1,$2 etc)
$ sum 11 20
$ math 4 - 7
$ d
$ bp -5 myf +20
$ Ls *
$ cal
$ findBS 4 8 24 BIG
Answer
Shell Script Name
No. Of Arguments to
script
Actual Argument ($1,..$9)
$ $# $1 $2 $3 $4 $5
sum 2 11 20
math 3 4 - 7
d 0
bp 3 -5 myI 20
Ls 1 *
cal 0
IindBS 4 4 8 24 BIG
Following script is used to print command ling argument and will show you how to
access them:
$ vi demo
#!/bin/sh
#
# Script that demos, command line args
#
echo "Total number of command line argument are $#"
echo "$0 is script name"
echo "$1 is first argument"
echo "$2 is second argument"
echo "All of them are :- $* or $@"
Run it as Iollows
Set execute permission as Iollows:
$ chmod 755 demo
Run it & test it as Iollows:
$ ./demo Hello World
II test successIul, copy script to your own bin directory (Install script Ior private use)
$ cp demo ~/bin
Check whether it is working or not (?)
$ demo
$ demo Hello World
NOTE: AIter this, Ior any script you have to used above command, in sequence, I am not
going to show you all oI the above command(s) Ior rest oI Tutorial.
Also note that you can't assigne the new value to command line arguments i.e
positional parameters. So Iollowing all statements in shell script are invalid:
$1 5
$2 "My Name"
Redirection of Standard output/input i.e.
Input - Output redirection
Mostly all command gives output on screen or take input Irom keyboard, but in Linux
(and in other OSs also) it's possible to send output to Iile or to read input Irom Iile.
For e.g.
$ ls command gives output to screen; to send output to Iile oI ls command give command
$ ls > filename
It means put output oI ls command to Iilename.
There are three main redirection symbols >,>>,<
(1) ~ Redirector Symbol
Svntax.
Linux-command ~ Iilename
To output Linux-commands result (output oI command or shell script) to Iile. Note that iI
Iile already exist, it will be overwritten else new Iile is created. For e.g. To send output oI
ls command give
$ ls > myfiles
Now iI 'myfiles' Iile exist in your current directory it will be overwritten without any type
oI warning.
(2) ~~ Redirector Symbol
Svntax.
Linux-command ~~ Iilename
To output Linux-commands result (output oI command or shell script) to END oI Iile.
Note that iI Iile exist , it will be opened and new inIormation/data will be written to END
oI Iile, without losing previous inIormation/data, And iI Iile is not exist, then new Iile is
created. For e.g. To send output oI date command to already exist Iile give command
$ date >> myfiles
(3) Redirector Symbol
Svntax.
Linux-command Iilename
To take input to Linux-command Irom Iile instead oI key-board. For e.g. To take input
Ior cat command give
$ cat < myfiles
Click here to learn more about I/O Redirection
You can also use above redirectors simultaneously as Iollows
Create text Iile sname as Iollows
$cat > sname
vivek
ashish
zebra
babu
Press CTRL D to save.
Now issue Iollowing command.
$ sort < sname > sorted_names
$ cat sorted_names
ashish
babu
vivek
zebra
In above example sort ($ sort < sname > sorted_names) command takes input Irom
sname Iile and output oI sort command (i.e. sorted names) is redirected to sortednames
Iile.
Try one more example to clear your idea:
$ tr "a-z]" "A-Z]" < sname > cap_names
$ cat cap_names
VIVEK
ASHISH
ZEBRA
BABU
tr command is used to translate all lower case characters to upper-case letters. It take
input Irom sname Iile, and tr's output is redirected to capnames Iile.
Future Point : Try Iollowing command and Iind out most important point:
$ sort > new_sorted_names < sname
$ cat new_sorted_names
Pipes
A pipe is a way to connect the output oI one program to the input oI another program
without any temporary Iile.
Pipe DeIined as:
"A pipe is nothing but a temporarv storage place where the output of one command is
stored and then passed as the input for second command. Pipes are used to run more
than two commands ( Multiple commands) from same command line."
Svntax.
command1 , command2
Examles.
Command using Pipes Meaning or Use of Pipes
$ ls [ more
Output oI ls command is given as input to
more command So that output is printed one
screen Iull page at a time.
$ who [ sort
Output oI who command is given as input
to sort command So that it will print sorted
list oI users
$ who [ sort > user_list
Same as above except output oI sort is send
to (redirected) userlist Iile
$ who [ wc -l
Output oI who command is given as input
to wc command So that it will number oI
user who logon to system
$ ls -l [ wc -l
Output oI ls command is given as input to
wc command So that it will print number oI
Iiles in current directory.
$ who [ grep raju
Output oI who command is given as input
to grep command So that it will print iI
particular user name iI he is logon or
nothing is printed (To see particular user is
logon or not)
Filter
II a Linux command accepts its input Irom the standard input and produces its output on
standard output is know as a Iilter. A Iilter perIorms some kind oI process on the input
and gives output. For e.g.. Suppose you have Iile called 'hotel.txt' with 100 lines data,
And Irom 'hotel.txt' you would like to print contains Irom line number 20 to line number
30 and store this result to Iile called 'hlist' then give command:
$ tail +20 < hotel.txt [ head -n30 >hlist
Here head command is Iilter which takes its input Irom tail command (tail command start
selecting Irom line number 20 oI given Iile i.e. hotel.txt) and passes this lines as input to
head, whose output is redirected to 'hlist' Iile.
Consider one more Iollowing example
$ sort < sname [ uniq > u_sname
Here uniq is Iilter which takes its input Irom sort command and passes this lines as input
to uniq; Then uniqs output is redirected to "usname" Iile.
What is Processes
Process is kind oI program or task carried out by your PC. For e.g.
$ ls -lR
ls command or a request to list Iiles in a directory and all subdirectory in your current
directory - It is a process.
Process deIined as:
"A process is program (command given bv user) to perform specific Job. In Linux when
vou start process, it gives a number to process (called PID or process-id), PID starts
from 0 to 65535."
Why Process required
As You know Linux is multi-user, multitasking Os. It means you can run more than two
process simultaneously iI you wish. For e.g. To Iind how many Iiles do you have on your
system you may give command like:
$ ls / -R [ wc -l
This command will take lot oI time to search all Iiles on your system. So you can run
such command in Background or simultaneously by giving command like
$ ls / -R [ wc -l &
The ampersand (&) at the end oI command tells shells start process (ls / -R [ wc -l) and
run it in background takes next command immediately.
Process & PID deIined as:
"An instance of running command is called process and the number printed bv shell is
called process-id (PID), this PID can be use to refer specific running process."
Linux Command Related with Process
Following tables most commonly used command(s) with process:
For this purpose Use this Command Examples`
To see currently running
process
ps $ ps
To stop any process by PID i.e.
to kill process
kill PID} $ kill 1012
To stop processes by name i.e.
to kill process
killall Process-name} $ killall httpd
To get inIormation about all
running process
ps -ag $ ps -ag
To stop all process except your
shell
kill 0 $ kill 0
For background processing
(With &, use to put particular
command and program in
background)
linux-command & $ ls / -R [ wc -l &
To display the owner oI the
processes along with the
processes
ps aux $ ps aux
To see iI a particular process is
running or not. For this purpose
you have to use ps command in
combination with the grep
command
ps ax , grep process-U-want-
to see
For e.g. you want to see
whether Apache web
server process is running
or not then give
command
$ ps ax [ grep httpd
To see currently running
processes and other inIormation
like memory and CPU usage
with real time updates.
top
See the output oI top command.
$ top
Note that to exit Irom top
command press q.
To display a tree oI processes pstree $ pstree
` To run some oI this command you need to be root or equivalnt user.
NOTE that you can only kill process which are created by yourselI. A Administrator can
almost kill 95-98 process. But some process can not be killed, such as VDU Process.
Exercise:
You are working on your Linux workstation (might be learning LSST or some other work
like sending mails, typing letter), while doing this work you have started to play MP3
Iiles on your workstation. Regarding this situation, answer the Iollowing question:
1) Is it example oI Multitasking?
2) How you will you Iind out the both running process (MP3 Playing & Letter typing)?
3) "Currently only two Process are running in your Linux/PC environment", Is it True or
False?, And how you will veriIy this?
4) You don't want to listen music (MP3 Files) but want to continue with other work on
PC, you will take any oI the Iollowing action:
1. Turn oII Speakers
2. Turn oII Computer / Shutdown Linux Os
3. Kill the MP3 playing process
4. None oI the above
Introduction
Making decision is important part in ONCE liIe as well as in computers logical driven
program. In Iact logic is not LOGIC until you use decision making. This chapter
introduces to the bashs structured language constricts such as:
Decision making
Loops
Is there any diIIerence making decision in Real liIe and with Computers? Well real liIe
decision are quit complicated to all oI us and computers even don't have that much power
to understand our real liIe decisions. What computer know is 0 (zero) and 1 that is Yes or
No. To make this idea clear, lets play some game (WOW!) with bc - Linux calculator
program.
$ bc
AIter this command bc is started and waiting Ior your commands, i.e. give it some
calculation as Iollows type 5 2 as:
5 + 2
7
7 is response oI bc i.e. addition oI 5 2 you can even try
5 - 2
5 / 2
See what happened iI you type 5 ~ 2 as Iollows
5 > 2
1
1 (One?) is response oI bc, How? bc compare 5 with 2 as, Is 5 is greater then 2, (II I ask
same question to you, your answer will be YES), bc gives this 'YES' answer by showing
1 value. Now try
5 < 2
0
0 (Zero) indicates the Ialse i.e. Is 5 is less than 2?, Your answer will be no which is
indicated by bc by showing 0 (Zero). Remember in bc, relational expression always
returns true (1) or false (0 - zero).
Try Iollowing in bc to clear your Idea and not down bc's response
5 > 12
5 10
5 ! 2
5 5
12 < 2
Expression Meaning to us Your Answer BC's Response
5 ~ 12 Is 5 greater than 12 NO 0
5 10 Is 5 is equal to 10 NO 0
5 ! 2 Is 5 is NOT equal to 2 YES 1
5 5 Is 5 is equal to 5 YES 1
1 2 Is 1 is less than 2 Yes 1
It means when ever there is any type oI comparison in Linux Shell It gives only two
answer one is YES and NO is other.
In Linux Shell Value Meaning Example
Zero Value (0) Yes/True 0
NON-ZERO Value No/False
-1, 32,
55
anything
but not
zero
Remember both bc and Linux Shell uses different wavs to show True/False values
Value Shown in bc as Shown in Linux Shell as
True/Yes 1 0
False/No 0 Non - zero value
if condition
iI condition which is used Ior decision making in shell script, II given condition is true
then command1 is executed.
Svntax.
if condition
then
command1 if condition is true or if exit status
of condition is 0 (zero)
...
...
fi
Condition is deIined as:
"Condition is nothing but comparison between two values."
For compression you can use test or | expr | statements or even exist status can be also
used.
Expreession is deIined as:
"An expression is nothing but combination of values, relational operator (such as ~,,
~ etc) and mathematical operators (such as , -, / etc )."
Following are all examples oI expression:
5 ~ 2
3 6
3 * 65
a b
c ~ 5
c ~ 5 30 -1
Type Iollowing commands (assumes you have Iile called foo)
$ cat foo
$ echo $?
The cat command return zero(0) i.e. exit status, on successIul, this can be used, in iI
condition as Iollows, Write shell script as
$ cat > showfile
#!/bin/sh
#
#Script to print file
#
if cat $1
then
echo -e "\n\nFile $1, found and successfully echoed"
fi
Run above script as:
$ chmod 755 showfile
$./showfile foo
Shell script name is showIile ($0) and Ioo is argument (which is $1).Then shell compare
it as Iollows:
iI cat $1 which is expanded to iI cat Ioo.
Detailed explanation
iI cat command Iinds Ioo Iile and iI its successIully shown on screen, it means our cat
command is successIul and its exist status is 0 (indicates success), So our iI condition is
also true and hence statement echo -e "\n\nFile $1, Iound and successIully echoed" is
proceed by shell. Now iI cat command is not successIul then it returns non-zero value
(indicates some sort oI Iailure) and this statement echo -e "\n\nFile $1, Iound and
successIully echoed" is skipped by our shell.
Exercise
Write shell script as Iollows:
cat > trmif
#
# Script to test rm command and exist status
#
if rm $1
then
echo "$1 file deleted"
fi
Press Ctrl d to save
$ chmod 755 trmif
Answer the Iollowing question in reIerance to above script:
(A) Ioo Iile exists on your disk and you give command, $ ./trmfi foo what will be output?
(B) II bar Iile not present on your disk and you give command, $ ./trmfi bar what will be
output?
(C) And iI you type $ ./trmfi What will be output?
test command or expr ]
test command or | expr | is used to see iI an expression is true, and iI it is true it return
zero(0), otherwise returns nonzero Ior Ialse.
Svntax.
test expression OR | expression |
Example.
Following script determine whether given argument number is positive.
$ cat > ispostive
#!/bin/sh
#
# Script to see whether argument is positive
#
if test $1 -gt 0
then
echo "$1 number is positive"
fi
Run it as Iollows
$ chmod 755 ispostive
$ ispostive 5
5 number is positive
$ispostive -45
Nothing is printed
$ispostive
./ispostive. test. -gt. unarv operator expected
Detailed explanation
The line, iI test $1 -gt 0 , test to see iI Iirst command line argument($1) is greater than 0.
II it is true(0) then test will return 0 and output will printed as 5 number is positive but Ior
-45 argument there is no output because our condition is not true(0) (no -45 is not greater
than 0) hence echo statement is skipped. And Ior last statement we have not supplied any
argument hence error ./ispostive: test: -gt: unary operator expected, is generated by shell ,
to avoid such error we can test whether command line argument is supplied or not.
test or | expr | works with
1.Integer ( Number without decimal point)
2.File types
3.Character strings
For Mathematics, use following operator in Shell Script
Mathematical
Operator in Shell
Script
Meaning
Normal
Arithmetical/
Mathematical
Statements
But in Shell
For test
statement with
if command
For expr ]
statement with
if command
-eq is equal to 5 6 iI test 5 -eq 6 iI | 5 -eq 6 |
-ne
is not equal
to
5 ! 6 iI test 5 -ne 6 iI | 5 -ne 6 |
-lt is less than 5 6 iI test 5 -lt 6 iI | 5 -lt 6 |
-le
is less than
or equal to
5 6 iI test 5 -le 6 iI | 5 -le 6 |
-gt
is greater
than
5 ~ 6 iI test 5 -gt 6 iI | 5 -gt 6 |
-ge
is greater
than or
equal to
5 ~ 6 iI test 5 -ge 6 iI | 5 -ge 6 |
NOTE: is equal, ! is not equal.
For string Comparisons use
Operator Meaning
string1
string2
string1 is equal to string2
string1 !
string2
string1 is NOT equal to string2
string1 string1 is NOT NULL or not deIined
-n string1 string1 is NOT NULL and does exist
-z string1 string1 is NULL and does exist
Shell also test for file and directory types
Test Meaning
-s Iile Non empty Iile
-I Iile
Is File exist or normal Iile and not a
directory
-d dir Is Directory exist and not a Iile
-w Iile Is writeable Iile
-r Iile Is read-only Iile
-x Iile Is Iile is executable
Logical Operators
Logical operators are used to combine two or more condition at a time
Operator Meaning
! expression Logical NOT
expression1 -a expression2 Logical AND
expression1 -o expression2 Logical OR
if...else...fi
II given condition is true then command1 is executed otherwise command2 is executed.
Svntax.
if condition
then
condition is zero (true - 0)
execute all commands up to else statement
else
if condition is not true then
execute all commands up to fi
fi
For e.g. Write Script as Iollows:
$ vi isnump_n
#!/bin/sh
#
# Script to see whether argument is positive or negative
#
if [ $# -eq 0 ]
then
echo "$0 : You must give/supply one integers"
exit 1
fi
if test $1 -gt 0
then
echo "$1 number is positive"
else
echo "$1 number is negative"
fi
Try it as Iollows:
$ chmod 755 isnump_n
$ isnump_n 5
5 number is positive
$ isnump_n -45
-45 number is negative
$ isnump_n
./isposn . You must give/supplv one integers
$ isnump_n 0
0 number is negative
Detailed explanation
First script checks whether command line argument is given or not, iI not given then it
print error message as "./isposn . You must give/supplv one integers". iI statement
checks whether number oI argument ($#) passed to script is not equal (-eq) to 0, iI we
passed any argument to script then this iI statement is Ialse and iI no command line
argument is given then this iI statement is true. The echo command i.e.
echo "$0 : You must give/supply one integers"
, ,
, ,
1 2
1 will print Name oI script
2 will print this error message
And Iinally statement exit 1 causes normal program termination with exit status 1
(nonzero means script is not successIully run).
The last sample run $ isnump_n 0 , gives output as "0 number is negative", because
given argument is not ~ 0, hence condition is Ialse and it's taken as negative number. To
avoid this replace second iI statement with if test $1 -ge 0.
Nested if-else-fi
You can write the entire iI-else construct within either the body oI the iI statement oI the
body oI an else statement. This is called the nesting oI iIs.
$ vi nestedif.sh
osch=0
echo "1. Unix (Sun Os)"
echo "2. Linux (Red Hat)"
echo -n "Select your os choice [1 or 2]? "
read osch
if [ $osch -eq 1 ] ; then
echo "You Pick up Unix (Sun Os)"
else #### nested if i.e. if within if ######
if [ $osch -eq 2 ] ; then
echo "You Pick up Linux (Red Hat)"
else
echo "What you don't like Unix/Linux OS."
fi
fi
Run the above shell script as Iollows:
$ chmod +x nestedif.sh
$ ./nestedif.sh
1. Unix (Sun Os)
2. Linux (Red Hat)
Select vou os choice [1 or 2]? 1
You Pick up Unix (Sun Os)
$ ./nestedif.sh
1. Unix (Sun Os)
2. Linux (Red Hat)
Select vou os choice [1 or 2]? 2
You Pick up Linux (Red Hat)
$ ./nestedif.sh
1. Unix (Sun Os)
2. Linux (Red Hat)
Select vou os choice [1 or 2]? 3
What vou dont like Unix/Linux OS.
Note that Second if-else constuct is nested in the Iirst else statement. II the condition in
the Iirst if statement is Ialse the the condition in the second if statement is checked. II it is
Ialse as well the Iinal else statement is executed.
You can use the nested ifs as Iollows also:
Svntax.
if condition
then
if condition
then
.....
..
do this
else
....
..
do this
fi
else
...
.....
do this
fi
Multilevel if-then-else
Svntax.
if condition
then
condition is zero (true - 0)
execute all commands up to elif statement
elif condition1
then
condition1 is zero (true - 0)
execute all commands up to elif statement
elif condition2
then
condition2 is zero (true - 0)
execute all commands up to elif statement
else
None of the above condtion,condtion1,condtion2
are true (i.e.
all of the above nonzero or false)
execute all commands up to fi
fi
For multilevel iI-then-else statement try the Iollowing script:
$ cat > elf
#
#!/bin/sh
# Script to test if..elif...else
#
if [ $1 -gt 0 ]; then
echo "$1 is positive"
elif [ $1 -lt 0 ]
then
echo "$1 is negative"
elif [ $1 -eq 0 ]
then
echo "$1 is zero"
else
echo "Opps! $1 is not number, give number"
fi
Try above script as Iollows:
$ chmod 755 elf
$ ./elf 1
$ ./elf -2
$ ./elf 0
$ ./elf a
Here o/p Ior last sample run:
./elI: |: -gt: unary operator expected
./elI: |: -lt: unary operator expected
./elI: |: -eq: unary operator expected
Opps! a is not number, give number
Above program gives error Ior last run, here integer comparison is expected thereIore
error like "./elf. [. -gt. unarv operator expected" occurs, but still our program notiIy this
error to user by providing message "Opps' a is not number, give number".
Loops in Shell Scripts
Loop deIined as:
"Computer can repeat particular instruction again and again, until particular condition
satisfies. A group of instruction that is executed repeatedlv is called a loop."
Bash supports:
Ior loop
while loop
Note that in each and every loop,
(a) First, the variable used in loop condition must be initialized, then execution oI the
loop begins.
(b) A test (condition) is made at the beginning oI each iteration.
(c) The body oI loop ends with a statement that modiIies the value oI the test (condition)
variable.
for Loop
Svntax.
for { variable name } in { list }
do
execute one for each item in the list until the
list is
not finished (And repeat all statement between do
and done)
done
BeIore try to understand above syntax try the Iollowing script:
$ cat > testfor
for i in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo "Welcome $i times"
done
Run it above script as Iollows:
$ chmod +x testfor
$ ./testfor
The Ior loop Iirst creates i variable and assigned a number to i Irom the list oI number
Irom 1 to 5, The shell execute echo statement Ior each assignment oI i. (This is usually
know as iteration) This process will continue until all the items in the list were not
Iinished, because oI this it will repeat 5 echo statements. To make you idea more clear try
Iollowing script:
$ cat > mtable
#!/bin/sh
#
#Script to test for loop
#
#
if [ $# -eq 0 ]
then
echo "Error - Number missing form command line argument"
echo "Syntax : $0 number"
echo "Use to print multiplication table for given number"
exit 1
fi
n=$1
for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
do
echo "$n * $i = `expr $i \* $n`"
done
Save above script and run it as:
$ chmod 755 mtable
$ ./mtable 7
$ ./mtable
For Iirst run, above script print multiplication table oI given number where i 1,2 ... 10 is
multiply by given n (here command line argument 7) in order to produce multiplication
table as
7 * 1 7
7 * 2 14
...
..
7 * 10 70
And Ior second test run, it will print message -
Error - Number missing form command line argument
Syntax : ./mtable number
Use to print multiplication table for given number
This happened because we have not supplied given number Ior which we want
multiplication table, Hence script is showing Error message, Syntax and usage oI our
script. This is good idea iI our program takes some argument, let the user know what is
use oI the script and how to used the script.
Note that to terminate our script we used 'exit 1' command which takes 1 as argument (1
indicates error and thereIore script is terminated)
Even you can use Iollowing syntax:
Svntax.
for (( expr1; expr2; expr3 ))
do
.....
...
repeat all statements between do and
done until expr2 is TRUE
Done
In above syntax BEFORE the Iirst iteration, expr1 is evaluated. This is usually used to
initialize variables Ior the loop.
All the statements between do and done is executed repeatedly UNTIL the value oI expr2
is TRUE.
AFTER each iteration oI the loop, expr3 is evaluated. This is usually use to increment a
loop counter.
$ cat > for2
for (( i = 0 ; i <= 5; i++ ))
do
echo "Welcome $i times"
done
Run the above script as Iollows:
$ chmod +x for2
$ ./for2
Welcome 0 times
Welcome 1 times
Welcome 2 times
Welcome 3 times
Welcome 4 times
Welcome 5 times
In above example, Iirst expression (i 0), is used to set the value variable i to zero.
Second expression is condition i.e. all statements between do and done executed as long
as expression 2 (i.e continue as long as the value oI variable i is less than or equel to 5) is
TRUE.
Last expression i++ increments the value oI i by 1 i.e. it's equivalent to i i 1
statement.
Nesting of for Loop
As you see the iI statement can nested, similarly loop statement can be nested. You can
nest the Ior loop. To understand the nesting oI Ior loop see the Iollowing shell script.
$ vi nestedfor.sh
for (( i = 1; i <= 5; i++ )) ### Outer for loop ###
do
for (( j = 1 ; j <= 5; j++ )) ### Inner for loop ###
do
echo -n "$i "
done
echo "" #### print the new line ###
done
Run the above script as Iollows:
$ chmod +x nestedfor.sh
$ ./nestefor.sh
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5
Here, Ior each value oI i the inner loop is cycled through 5 times, with the varible j taking
values Irom 1 to 5. The inner Ior loop terminates when the value oI j exceeds 5, and the
outer loop terminets when the value oI i exceeds 5.
Following script is quite intresting, it prints the chess board on screen.
$ vi chessboard
for (( i = 1; i <= 9; i++ )) ### Outer for loop ###
do
for (( j = 1 ; j <= 9; j++ )) ### Inner for loop ###
do
tot=`expr $i + $j`
tmp=`expr $tot % 2`
if [ $tmp -eq 0 ]; then
echo -e -n "\033[47m "
else
echo -e -n "\033[40m "
fi
done
echo -e -n "\033[40m" #### set back background colour to black
echo "" #### print the new line ###
done
Run the above script as Iollows:
$ chmod +x chessboard
$ ./chessboard
On my terminal above script produec the output as Iollows:
Above shell script cab be explained as Iollows:
Command(s)/Statements Explanation
Ior (( i 1; i 9; i ))
do
Begin the outer loop which runs 9 times., and the
outer loop terminets when the value oI i exceeds 9
Ior (( j 1 ; j 9; j ))
do
Begins the inner loop, Ior each value oI i the inner
loop is cycled through 9 times, with the varible j
taking values Irom 1 to 9. The inner Ior loop
terminates when the value oI j exceeds 9.
tot`expr $i $j`
tmp`expr $tot 2`
See Ior even and odd number positions using these
statements.
iI | $tmp -eq 0 |; then
echo -e -n "\033|47m "
else
echo -e -n "\033|40m "
Ii
II even number posiotion print the white colour
block (using echo -e -n "\03347m " statement);
otherwise Ior odd postion print the black colour
box (using echo -e -n "\03340m " statement).
This statements are responsible to print entier chess
board on screen with alternet colours.
done End oI inner loop
echo -e -n "\033|40m"
Make sure its black background as we always have
on our terminals.
echo "" Print the blank line
done
End oI outer loop and shell scripts get terminted by
printing the chess board.
while loop
Svntax.
while [ condition ]
do
command1
command2
command3
..
....
done
Loop is executed as long as given condition is true. For e.g.. Above Ior loop program
(shown in last section oI Ior loop) can be written using while loop as:
$cat > nt1
#!/bin/sh
#
#Script to test while statement
#
#
if [ $# -eq 0 ]
then
echo "Error - Number missing form command line argument"
echo "Syntax : $0 number"
echo " Use to print multiplication table for given number"
exit 1
fi
n=$1
i=1
while [ $i -le 10 ]
do
echo "$n * $i = `expr $i \* $n`"
i=`expr $i + 1`
done
Save it and try as
$ chmod 755 nt1
$./nt1 7
Above loop can be explained as Iollows:
n$1
Set the value oI command line argument to
variable n. (Here it's set to 7 )
i1 Set variable i to 1
while | $i -le 10 |
This is our loop condition, here iI value oI i
is less than 10 then, shell execute all
statements between do and done
do Start loop
echo "$n * $i `expr $i \* $n`"
Print multiplication table as
7 * 1 7
7 * 2 14
....
7 * 10 70, Here each time value oI
variable n is multiply be i.
i`expr $i 1`
Increment i by 1 and store result to i. ( i.e.
ii1)
Caution: II you ignore (remove) this
statement than our loop become inIinite
loop because value oI variable i always
remain less than 10 and program will only
output
7 * 1 7
...
...
E (inIinite times)
done
Loop stops here iI i is not less than 10 i.e.
condition oI loop is not true. Hence
loop is terminated.
The case Statement
The case statement is good alternative to Multilevel iI-then-else-Ii statement. It enable
you to match several values against one variable. Its easier to read and write.
Svntax.
case $variable-name in
pattern1) command
...
..
command;;
pattern2) command
...
..
command;;
patternN) command
...
..
command;;
*) command
...
..
command;;
esac
The $variable-name is compared against the patterns until a match is Iound. The shell
then executes all the statements up to the two semicolons that are next to each other. The
deIault is *) and its executed iI no match is Iound. For e.g. write script as Iollows:
$ cat > car
#
# if no vehicle name is given
# i.e. -z $1 is defined and it is NULL
#
# if no command line arg
if [ -z $1 ]
then
rental="*** Unknown vehicle ***"
elif [ -n $1 ]
then
# otherwise make first arg as rental
rental=$1
fi
case $rental in
"car") echo "For $rental Rs.20 per k/m";;
"van") echo "For $rental Rs.10 per k/m";;
"jeep") echo "For $rental Rs.5 per k/m";;
"bicycle") echo "For $rental 20 paisa per k/m";;
*) echo "Sorry, I can not gat a $rental for you";;
esac
Save it by pressing CTRLD and run it as Iollows:
$ chmod +x car
$ car van
$ car car
$ car Maruti-800
First script will check, that iI $1(Iirst command line argument) is given or not, iI NOT
given set value oI rental variable to "*** Unknown vehicle ***",iI command line arg is
supplied/given set value oI rental variable to given value (command line arg). The $rental
is compared against the patterns until a match is Iound.
For Iirst test run its match with van and it will show output "For van Rs.10 per k/m."
For second test run it print, "For car Rs.20 per k/m".
And Ior last run, there is no match Ior Maruti-800, hence deIault i.e. *) is executed and it
prints, "Sorrv, I can not gat a Maruti-800 for vou".
Note that esac is always required to indicate end oI case statement.
See the one more example oI case statement in chapter 4 oI section shiIt command.
How to de-bug the shell script?
While programming shell sometimes you need to Iind the errors (bugs) in shell script and
correct the errors (remove errors - debug). For this purpose you can use -v and -x option
with sh or bash command to debug the shell script. General syntax is as Iollows:
Svntax.
sh option shell-script-name }
OR
bash option shell-script-name }
Option can be
-v Print shell input lines as they are read.
-x AIter expanding each simple-command, bash displays the expanded value oI PS4
system variable, Iollowed by the command and its expanded arguments.
Example.
$ cat ~ dsh1.sh
#
# Script to show debug oI shell
#
tot`expr $1 $2`
echo $tot
Press ctrl d to save, and run it as
$ chmod 755 dsh1.sh
$ ./dsh1.sh 4 5
9
$ sh -x dsh1.sh 4 5
=
= Script to show debug of shell
=
tot`expr $1 $2`
expr $1 $2
expr 4 5
tot9
echo $tot
echo 9
9
See the above output, -x shows the exact values oI variables (or statements are shown on
screen with values).
$ sh -v dsh1.sh 4 5
Use -v option to debug complex shell script.
Introduction
AIter learning basis oI shell scripting, its time to learn more advance Ieatures oI shell
scripting/command such as:
Functions
User interIace
Conditional execution
File Descriptors
traps
Multiple command line args handling etc
Local and Global Shell variable (export
command)
Normally all our variables are local. Local variable can be used in same shell, iI you load
another copy oI shell (by typing the /bin/bash at the $ prompt) then new shell ignored all
old shell's variable. For e.g. Consider Iollowing example
$ vechBus
$ echo $vech
Bus
$ /bin/bash
$ echo $vech
NOTE:-Empty line printed
$ vechCar
$ echo $vech
Car
$ exit
$ echo $vech
Bus
Command Meaning
$ vechBus Create new local variable 'vech' with Bus as value in Iirst shell
$ echo $vech Print the contains oI variable vech
$ /bin/bash
Now load second shell in memory (Which ignores all old
shell's variable)
$ echo $vech Print the contains oI variable vech
$ vechCar
Create new local variable 'vech' with Car as value in second
shell
$ echo $vech Print the contains oI variable vech
$ exit Exit Irom second shell return to Iirst shell
$ echo $vech
Print the contains oI variable vech (Now you can see Iirst shells
variable and its value)
Global shell deIined as:
"You can copv old shells variable to new shell (i.e. first shells variable to seconds shell),
such variable is know as Global Shell variable."
To set global varible you have to use export command.
Svntax.
export variable1, variable2,.....variableN
Examples.
$ vechBus
$ echo $vech
Bus
$ export vech
$ /bin/bash
$ echo $vech
Bus
$ exit
$ echo $vech
Bus
Command Meaning
$
vechBus
Create new local variable 'vech' with Bus as value in Iirst shell
$ echo
$vech
Print the contains oI variable vech
$ export
vech
Export Iirst shells variable to second shell i.e. global varible
$ /bin/bash
Now load second shell in memory (Old shell's variable is accessed Irom
second shell, if thev are exported )
$ echo
$vech
Print the contains oI variable vech
$ exit Exit Irom second shell return to Iirst shell
$ echo
$vech
Print the contains oI variable vech
Conditional execution i.e. && and [[
The control operators are && (read as AND) and ,, (read as OR). The syntax Ior AND list
is as Iollows
Svntax.
command1 && command2
command2 is executed iI, and only iI, command1 returns an exit status oI zero.
The syntax Ior OR list as Iollows
Svntax.
command1 ,, command2
command2 is executed iI and only iI command1 returns a non-zero exit status.
You can use both as Iollows
Svntax.
command1 && comamnd2 iI exist status is zero ,, command3 iI exit status is non-zero
iI command1 is executed successIully then shell will run command2 and iI command1 is
not successIul then command3 is executed.
Example.
$ rm myf && echo "File is removed successfully" [[ echo "File is not removed"
II Iile (myI) is removed successIul (exist status is zero) then "echo File is removed
successfullv" statement is executed, otherwise "echo File is not removed" statement is
executed (since exist status is non-zero)
I/O Redirection and file descriptors
As you know I/O redirectors are used to send output oI command to Iile or to read input
Irom Iile. Consider Iollowing example
$ cat > myf
This is my file
^D (press CTRL D to save Iile)
Above command send output oI cat command to myI Iile
$ cal
Above command prints calendar on screen, but iI you wish to store this calendar to Iile
then give command
$ cal > mycal
The cal command send output to mycal Iile. This is called output redirection.
$ sort
10
-20
11
2
`D
-20
2
10
11
sort command takes input Irom keyboard and then sorts the number and prints (send)
output to screen itselI. II you wish to take input Irom Iile (Ior sort command) give
command as Iollows:
$ cat > nos
10
-20
11
2
`D
$ sort < nos
-20
2
10
11
First you created the Iile nos using cat command, then nos Iile given as input to sort
command which prints sorted numbers. This is called input redirection.
In Linux (And in C programming Language) your keyboard, screen etc are all treated as
Iiles. Following are name oI such Iiles
Standard
File
File Descriptors
number
Use Example
stdin 0
as Standard
input
Keyboard
stdout 1
as Standard
output
Screen
stderr 2
as Standard
error
Screen
By deIault in Linux every program has three Iiles associated with it, (when we start our
program these three Iiles are automatically opened by your shell). The use oI Iirst two
Iiles (i.e. stdin and stdout) , are already seen by us. The last Iile stderr (numbered as 2) is
used by our program to print error on screen. You can redirect the output Irom a Iile
descriptor directly to Iile with Iollowing syntax
Svntax.
Iile-descriptor-number~Iilename
Examples. (Assemums the Iile bad_file_name111 does not exists)
$ rm bad_file_name111
rm. cannot remove `badfilename111. No such file or directorv
Above command gives error as output, since you don't have Iile. Now iI we try to redirect
this error-output to Iile, it can not be send (redirect) to Iile, try as Iollows:
$ rm bad_file_name111 > er
Still it prints output on stderr as rm. cannot remove `badfilename111. No such file or
directorv, And iI you see er Iile as $ cat er , this Iile is empty, since output is send to
error device and you can not redirect it to copy this error-output to your Iile 'er'. To
overcome this problem you have to use Iollowing command:
$ rm bad_file_name111 2>er
Note that no space are allowed between 2 and ~, The 2~er directs the standard error
output to Iile. 2 number is deIault number (Iile descriptors number) oI stderr Iile. To clear
your idea onsider another example by writing shell script as Iollows:
$ cat > demoscr
if [ $# -ne 2 ]
then
echo "Error : Number are not supplied"
echo "Usage : $0 number1 number2"
exit 1
fi
ans=`expr $1 + $2`
echo "Sum is $ans"
Run it as Iollows:
$ chmod 755 demoscr
$ ./demoscr
Error . Number are not supplied
Usage . ./demoscr number1 number2
$ ./demoscr > er1
$ ./demoscr 5 7
Sum is 12
For Iirst sample run , our script prints error message indicating that you have not given
two number.
For second sample run, you have redirect output oI script to Iile er1, since it's error we
have to show it to user, It means we have to print our error message on stderr not on
stdout. To overcome this problem replace above echo statements as Iollows
echo "Error : Aumber are not supplied" 1>&2
echo "Usage : $ number1 number2" 1>&2
Now iI you run it as Iollows:
$ ./demoscr > er1
Error . Number are not supplied
Usage . ./demoscr number1 number2
It will print error message on stderr and not on stdout. The 1>&2 at the end oI echo
statement, directs the standard output (stdout) to standard error (stderr) device.
Svntax.
Irom~&destination
Functions
Humans are intelligent animals. They work together to perIorm all oI liIe's task, in Iact
most oI us depend upon each other. For e.g. you rely on milkman to supply milk, or
teacher to learn new technology (iI computer teacher). What all this mean is you can't
perIorm all oI liIe's task alone. You need somebody to help you to solve speciIic
task/problem.
The above logic also applies to computer program (shell script). When program gets
complex we need to use divide and conquer technique. It means whenever programs gets
complicated, we divide it into small chunks/entities which is know as function.
Function is series oI instruction/commands. Function perIorms particular activity in shell
i.e. it had speciIic work to do or simply say task. To deIine Iunction use Iollowing syntax:
Svntax.
function-name ( )
{
command1
command2
.....
...
commandN
return
}
Where Iunction-name is name oI you Iunction, that executes series oI commands. A
return statement will terminate the Iunction. Example.
Type SayHello() at $ prompt as Iollows
$ SayHello()

echo "Hello $LOGNAME, Have nice computing"
return
]
To execute this SayHello() Iunction just type it name as Iollows:
$ SayHello
Hello vivek, Have nice computing.
This way you can call Iunction. Note that aIter restarting your computer you will loss this
SayHello() Iunction, since its created Ior current session only. To overcome this problem
and to add you own Iunction to automat some oI the day today liIe task, add your
Iunction to /etc/bashrc Iile. To add Iunction to this Iile you must logon as root. Following
is the sample /etc/bashrc Iile with todav() Iunction , which is used to print Iormatted date.
First logon as root or iI you already logon with your name (your login is not root), and
want to move to root account, then you can type Iollowing command , when asked Ior
password type root (administrators) password
$ su -l
password.
Open Iile /etc/bashrc using vi and goto the end oI Iile (by pressing shiItG) and type the
today() Iunction:
# vi /etc/bashrc
# At the end of file add following in /etc/bashrc file
#
# today() to print formatted date
#
# To run this function type today at the $ prompt
# Added by Vivek to show function in Linux
#
today()
{
echo This is a `date +"%A %d in %B of %Y (%r)"`
return
}
Save the Iile and exit it, aIter all this modiIication your Iile may look like as Iollows (type
command cat /etc/bashrc)
# cat letclbashrc
# /etc/bashrc
# System wide Iunctions and aliases
# Environment stuII goes in /etc/proIile
# For some unknown reason bash reIuses to inherit
# PS1 in some circumstances that I can't Iigure out.
# Putting PS1 here ensures that it gets loaded every time.
PS1"|\u\h \W|\\$ "
#
# today() to print Iormatted date
#
# To run this Iunction type today at the $ prompt
# Added by Vivek to show Iunction in Linux
today()

echo This is a `date "A d in B oI Y (r)"`
return
}
To run Iunction Iirst completely logout by typing exit at the $ prompt (Or press CTRL
D, Note you may have to type exit (CTRL D) twice iI you login to root account by
using su command) ,then login and type $ today , this way today() is available to all user
in your system, II you want to add particular Iunction to particular user then open .bashrc
Iile in users home directory as Iollows:
# vi .bashrc
OR
# mcedit .bashrc
At the end of file add following in .bashrc file
SayBuy()
{
echo "Buy $LOGNAME ! Life never be the same, until you login again!"
echo "Press a key to logout. . ."
read
return
}
Save the Iile and exit it, aIter all this modiIication your Iile may look like as Iollows (type
command cat .bashrc)
# cat .bashrc
# .bashrc
#
# User specIfIc alIases and functIons
# Source global defInItIons
iI | -I /etc/bashrc |; then
. /etc/bashrc
Ii
SayBuy()

echo "Buy $LOGNAME ! LiIe never be the same, until you login again!"
echo "Press a key to logout. . ."
read
return
}
To run Iunction Iirst logout by typing exit at the $ prompt (Or press CTRL D ) ,then
logon and type $ SayBuy , this way SayBuy() is available to only in your login and not to
all user in system, Use .bashrc Iile in your home directory to add User speciIic aliases and
Iunctions only.
1ip: II you want to show some message or want to perIorm some action when you logout,
Open Iile .bashlogout in your home directory and add your stuII here For e.g. When
ever I logout, I want to show message Buy! Then open your .bashlogout Iile using text
editor such as vi and add statement:
echo "Buy $LOGNAME, Press a key. . ."
read
Save and exit Irom the Iile. Then to test this logout Irom your system by pressing CTRL
D (or type exit) immediately you will see message "Buy xxxxx, Press a key. . .", aIter
pressing key you will be logout and login prompt will be shown to you. :-)
Why to write function?
Saves lot of tIme.
AvoIds rewrItIng of same code agaIn and agaIn
Program Is easIer to wrIte.
Program maIntaIns Is very easy.
User Interface and dialog utility-Part I
Good program/shell script must interact with users. You can accomplish this as Iollows:
(1) Use command line arguments (args) to script when you want interaction i.e. pass
command line args to script as : $ ./sutil.sh foo 4, where foo & 4 are command line args
passed to shell script sutil.sh.
(2) Use statement like echo and read to read input into variable Irom the prompt. For e.g.
Write script as:
$ cat > userinte
#
# Script to demo echo and read command for user interaction
#
echo "Your good name please :"
read na
echo "Your age please :"
read age
neyr=`expr $age + 1`
echo "Hello $na, next year you will be $neyr yrs old."
Save it and run as
$ chmod 755 userinte
$ ./userinte
Your good name please :
Vivek
Your age please .
25
Hello Jivek, next vear vou will be 26 vrs old.
Even you can create menus to interact with user, Iirst show menu option, then ask user to
choose menu item, and take appropriate action according to selected menu item, this
technique is show in Iollowing script:
$ cat > menuui
#
# Script to create simple menus and take action according to that
selected
# menu item
#
while :
do
clear
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo " Main Menu "
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo "[1] Show Todays date/time"
echo "[2] Show files in current directory"
echo "[3] Show calendar"
echo "[4] Start editor to write letters"
echo "[5] Exit/Stop"
echo "======================="
echo -n "Enter your menu choice [1-5]: "
read yourch
case $yourch in
1) echo "Today is `date` , press a key. . ." ; read ;;
2) echo "Files in `pwd`" ; ls -l ; echo "Press a key. . ." ; read
;;
3) cal ; echo "Press a key. . ." ; read ;;
4) vi ;;
5) exit 0 ;;
*) echo "Opps!!! Please select choice 1,2,3,4, or 5";
echo "Press a key. . ." ; read ;;
esac
done
Above all statement explained in Iollowing table:
Statement Explanation
while :
Start inIinite loop, this
loop will only break iI
you select 5 ( i.e.
Exit/Stop menu item) as
your menu choice
do Start loop
clear
Clear the screen, each and
every time
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo " Main Menu "
echo "-------------------------------------"
echo "1] Show Todays date/time"
echo "2] Show files in current directory"
echo "3] Show calendar"
echo "4] Start editor to write letters"
echo "5] Exit/Stop"
echo ""
Show menu on screen
with menu items
echo -n "Enter your menu choice 1-5]: "
Ask user to enter menu
item number
read yourch
Read menu item number
Irom user
case $yourch in
1) echo "Today is `date` , press a key. . ." ; read ;;
2) echo "Files in `pwd`" ; ls -l ;
echo "Press a key. . ." ; read ;;
3) cal ; echo "Press a key. . ." ; read ;;
4) vi ;;
5) exit 0 ;;
Take appropriate action
according to selected
menu item, II menu item
is not between 1 - 5, then
show error and ask user to
input number between 1-5
again
`) echo "Opps!!! Please select choice 1,2,3,4, or 5";
echo "Press a key. . ." ; read ;;
esac
done
Stop loop , iI menu item
number is 5 ( i.e.
Exit/Stop)
User interIace usually includes, menus, diIIerent type oI boxes like inIo box, message
box, Input box etc. In Linux shell (i.e. bash) there is no built-in Iacility available to create
such user interIace, But there is one utility supplied with Red Hat Linux version 6.0
called dialog, which is used to create diIIerent type oI boxes like inIo box, message box,
menu box, Input box etc. Next section shows you how to use dialog utility.
Getting Starting with awk
Consider Iollowing text database Iile
Sr.No Product Qty
Unit
Price
1 Pen 5 20.00
2 Rubber 10 2.00
3 Pencil 3 3.50
4 Cock 2 45.50
In above Iile Iields are Sr.No,Product,Qty,Unit Price. Field is the smallest element oI any
record. Each Iields has its own attributes. For e.g. Take Qty. Iield. Qty. Iields attribute is
its numerical (Can contain only numerical data). Collection oI Iields is know as record.
So
1. Pen 5 20.00 ----~ Is a Record.
Collection oI record is know as database file. In above text database Iile each Iield is
separated using space (or tab character) and record is separated using new-line character (
i.e. each record is Iinished at the end oI line ). In the awk, Iields are access using special
variable. For e.g. In above database $1, $2, $3, $4 respectively represents Sr.No, Product,
Qty, Unit Price Iields. (Don't conIuse $1,$2 etc with command line arguments oI shell
script)
For this part oI tutorial create text dataIile inven (Shown as above). Now enter Iollowing
simple awk program/command at shell prompt:
$ awk ' print $1 $2 "--> Rs." $3 ` $4 ]' inven
1.Pen--~ Rs.100
2.Pencil--~ Rs.20
3.Rubber--~ Rs.10.5
4.Cock--~ Rs.91
Above awk program/command can be explained as Iollows:
awk program statement Explanation
' print $1 $2 "--> Rs." $3
` $4 ] '
print command is used to print contains oI variables or text
enclose in " text ". Here $1, $2, $3,$4 are all the special
variable. $1, $2, etc all oI the variable contains value oI
Iield. Finally we can directly do the calculation using $3 *
$4 i.e. multiplication oI third and Iourth Iield in database.
Note that "--> Rs." is string which is printed as its.
Note $1,$2 etc (in awk) also know as predeIined variable and can assign any value Iound
in Iield.
Type Iollowing awk program at shell prompt,
$ awk ' print $2 ]' inven
Pen
Pencil
Rubber
Cock
awk prints second Iield Irom Iile. Same way iI you want to print second and Iourth Iield
Irom Iile then give Iollowing command:
$awk ' print $2 $4]' inven
Pen20.00
Pencil2.00
Rubber3.50
Cock45.50
$0 is special variable oI awk , which print entire record, you can veriIy this by issuing
Iollowing awk command:
$ awk ' print $0 ]' inven
1. Pen 5 20.00
2. Pencil 10 2.00
3. Rubber 3 3.50
4. Cock 2 45.50
You can also create awk command (program) Iile as Iollows:
$ cat > prn_pen
/Pen/ { print $3 }
And then you can execute or run above "prnpen" awk command Iile as Iollows
$ awk -f prn_pen inven
5
10
In above awk program /Pen/ is the search pattern, iI this pattern is Iound on line (or
record) then print the third Iield oI record.
{ print $3 } is called Action. On shell prompt , $ awk -f prnpen inven , -f option instruct
awk, to read its command Irom given Iile, inven is the name oI database Iile which is
taken as input Ior awk.
Now create Iollowing awk program as Iollows:
$cat > comp_inv
3 > 5 { print $0 }
Run it as Iollows:
$ awk -f comp_inv inven
2. Pencil 10 2.00
Here third Iield oI database is compared with 5, this the pattern. II this pattern Iound on
any line database, then entire record is printed.
Predefined variable of awk
Our next example talks more about predeIined variable oI awk. Create awk Iile as
Iollows:
$cat > def_var
{
print "Printing Rec. #" NR "(" $0 "),And # of field for this record is
" NF
}
Run it as Iollows.
$awk -f def_var inven
Printing Rec. =1(1. Pen 5 20.00),And = of field for this record is 4
Printing Rec. =2(2. Pencil 10 2.00),And = of field for this record is 4
Printing Rec. =3(3. Rubber 3 3.50),And = of field for this record is 4
Printing Rec. =4(4. Cock 2 45.50),And = of field for this record is 4
NR and NF are predeIined variables oI awk which means Number oI input Record,
Number oI Fields in input record respectively. In above example NR is changed as our
input record changes, and NF is constant as there are only 4 Iield per record. Following
table shows list oI such built in awk variables.
awk
Variable
Meaning
FILENAME Name oI current input Iile
RS
Input record separator character
(DeIault is new line)
OFS
Output Iield separator string (Blank is
deIault)
ORS
Output record separator string
(DeIault is new line)
NF Number oI input record
NR Number oI Iields in input record
OFMT Output Iormat oI number
FS
Field separator character (Blank & tab
is deIault)
Doing arithmetic with awk
You can easily, do the arithmetic with awk as Iollows
$ cat > math
{
print $1 " + " $2 " = " $1 + $2
print $1 " - " $2 " = " $1 - $2
print $1 " / " $2 " = " $1 / $2
print $1 " x " $2 " = " $1 * $2
print $1 " mod " $2 " = " $1 % $2
}
Run the awk program as Iollows:
$ awk -f math
20 3
20 3 23
20 - 3 17
20 / 3 6.66667
20 x 3 60
20 mod 3 2
(Press CTRL D to terminate)
In above program print $1 " " $2 " " $1 $2, statement is used Ior addition purpose.
Here $1 $2, means add () Iirst Iield with second Iield. Same way you can do -
(subtraction ), * (Multiplication), / (Division), (modular use to Iind remainder oI
division operation).
User Defined variables in awk
You can also deIine your own variable in awk program, as Iollows:
$ cat > math1
{
no1 = $1
no2 = $2
ans = $1 + $2
print no1 " + " no2 " = " ans
}
Run the program as Iollows
$ awk -f math1
1 5
1 5 6
In the above program, no1, no2, ans all are user deIined variables. Value oI Iirst and
second Iield are assigned to no1, no2 variable respectively and the addition to ans
variable. Value oI variable can be print using print statement as, print no1 " " no2 " "
ans. Note that print statement prints whatever enclosed in double quotes (" text ") as it is.
II string is not enclosed in double quotes its treated as variable. Also above two program
takes input Irom stdin (Keyboard) instead oI Iile.
Now try the Iollowing awk program and note down its output.
$ cat > bill
{
total = $3 * $4
recno = $1
item = $2
print recno item " Rs." total
}
Run it as
$ awk -f bill inven
1.Pen Rs.100
2.Pencil Rs.20
3.Rubber Rs.10.5
4.Cock Rs.91
Here we are printing the total price oI each product (By multiplying third Iield with
Iourth Iield). Following program prints total price oI each product as well as the Grand
total oI all product in the bracket.
$ cat > bill1
{
total = $3 * $4
recno = $1
item = $2
gtotal = gtotal + total
print recno item " Rs." total " [Total Rs." gtotal "] "
}
Run the above awk program as Iollows:
$ awk -f bill1 inven
1.Pen Rs.100 [Total Rs.100]
2.Pencil Rs.20 [Total Rs.120]
3.Rubber Rs.10.5 [Total Rs.130.5]
4.Cock Rs.91 [Total Rs.221.5]
In this program, gtotal variable holds the grand total. It adds the total oI each product as
gtotal gtotal total. Finally this total is printed with each record in the bracket. But
their is one problem with our script, Grand total mostly printed at the end oI all record.
To solve this problem we have to use special BEGIN and END Patterns oI awk. First take
the example,
$ cat > bill2
BEGIN {
print "---------------------------"
print "Bill for the 4-March-2001. "
print "By Vivek G Gite. "
print "---------------------------"
}
{
total = $3 * $4
recno = $1
item = $2
gtotal += total
print recno item " Rs." total
}
END {
print "---------------------------"
print "Total Rs." gtotal
print "==========================="
}
Run it as
$awk -f bill2 inven
---------------------------
Bill for the 4-March-2001.
Bv Jivek G Gite.
---------------------------
1.Pen Rs.100
2.Pencil Rs.20
3.Rubber Rs.10.5
4.Cock Rs.91
---------------------------
Total Rs.221.5

Now the grand total is printed at the end. In above program BEGIN and END patters are
used. BEGIN instruct awk, that perIorm BEGIN actions beIore the Iirst line (Record) has
been read Irom database Iile. Use BEGIN pattern to set value oI variables, to print
heading Ior report etc. General syntax oI BEGIN is as Iollows
Svntax.
BEGIN
action 1
action 2
action N
}
END instruct awk, that perIorm END actions aIter reading all lines (RECORD) Irom the
database Iile. General syntax oI END is as Iollows:
END
action 1
action 2
action N
}
In our example, BEGIN is used to print heading and END is used print grand total.
#!/bin/bash
#
# Linux Shell Scripting Tutorial 1.05r3, Summer-2002
#
# Written by Vivek G. Gite <vivek@nixcraft.com>
#
# Latest version can be found at http://www.nixcraft.com/
#
# Q13
#
# Shell script to print contains of file from given line no to next
# given numberlines
#
#
# Print error / diagnostic for user if no arg's given
#
if [ $# -eq 0 ]
then
echo "$0:Error command arguments missing!"
echo "Usage: $0 start_line uptoline filename"
echo "Where start_line is line number from which you would like to
print file"
echo "uptoline is line number upto which would like to print"
echo "For eg. $0 5 5 myfile"
echo "Here from myfile total 5 lines printed starting from line no.
5 to"
echo "line no 10."
exit 1
fi
#
# Look for sufficent arg's
#
if [ $# -eq 3 ]; then
if [ -e $3 ]; then
tail +$1 $3 | head -n$2
else
echo "$0: Error opening file $3"
exit 2
fi
else
echo "Missing arguments!"
fi
#
# ./ch.sh: vivek-tech.com to nixcraft.com referance converted using
this tool
# See the tool at http://www.nixcraft.com/uniqlinuxfeatures/tools/
#
#!/bin/bash
#
# Linux Shell Scripting Tutorial 1.05r3, Summer-2002
#
# Written by Vivek G. Gite <vivek@nixcraft.com>
#
# Latest version can be found at http://www.nixcraft.com/
#
# Q4
#
if test $# = 3
then
case $2 in
+) let z=$1+$3;;
-) let z=$1-$3;;
/) let z=$1/$3;;
x|X) let z=$1*$3;;
*) echo Warning - $2 invalied operator, only +,-,x,/ operator
allowed
exit;;
esac
echo Answer is $z
else
echo "Usage - $0 value1 operator value2"
echo " Where, value1 and value2 are numeric values"
echo " operator can be +,-,/,x (For
Multiplication)"
fi
#
# ./ch.sh: vivek-tech.com to nixcraft.com referance converted using
this tool
# See the tool at http://www.nixcraft.com/uniqlinuxfeatures/tools/
#