Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

An in−depth exploration of the art of shell scripting

Mendel Cooper

<[email protected]>

3.9

15 May 2006

Revision History
Revision 3.7 23 Oct 2005 Revised by: mc
'WHORTLEBERRY' release: Bugfix Update.
Revision 3.8 26 Feb 2006 Revised by: mc
'BLAEBERRY' release: Minor Update.
Revision 3.9 15 May 2006 Revised by: mc
'SPICEBERRY' release: Minor Update.

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.

This book is suitable for classroom use as a general introduction to programming concepts.

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. A pdf version is also available. See the
change log for a revision history.

Dedication
For Anita, the source of all the magic
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Why Shell Programming?...............................................................................................................1

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang.......................................................................................................3

2.1. Invoking the script............................................................................................................................6
2.2. Preliminary Exercises.......................................................................................................................6

Part 2. Basics.......................................................................................................................................................7

Chapter 3. Special Characters...........................................................................................................................8

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters..................................................................................25

4.1. Variable Substitution......................................................................................................................25
4.2. Variable Assignment.......................................................................................................................27
4.3. Bash Variables Are Untyped..........................................................................................................29
4.4. Special Variable Types...................................................................................................................30

Chapter 5. Quoting...........................................................................................................................................34
5.1. Quoting Variables...........................................................................................................................34
5.2. Escaping..........................................................................................................................................35

Chapter 6. Exit and Exit Status.......................................................................................................................41

Chapter 7. Tests................................................................................................................................................43
7.1. Test Constructs...............................................................................................................................43
7.2. File test operators............................................................................................................................49
7.3. Other Comparison Operators..........................................................................................................52
7.4. Nested if/then Condition Tests.......................................................................................................57
7.5. Testing Your Knowledge of Tests..................................................................................................57

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics....................................................................................................59

8.1. Operators.........................................................................................................................................59
8.2. Numerical Constants.......................................................................................................................65

Part 3. Beyond the Basics.................................................................................................................................67

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited........................................................................................................................68

9.1. Internal Variables............................................................................................................................68
9.2. Manipulating Strings.......................................................................................................................84
9.2.1. Manipulating strings using awk............................................................................................90
9.2.2. Further Discussion.................................................................................................................91
9.3. Parameter Substitution....................................................................................................................91
9.4. Typing variables: declare or typeset.............................................................................................100
9.5. Indirect References to Variables...................................................................................................102
9.6. $RANDOM: generate random integer..........................................................................................105
9.7. The Double Parentheses Construct...............................................................................................114

i
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Table of Contents
Chapter 10. Loops and Branches..................................................................................................................116
10.1. Loops..........................................................................................................................................116
10.2. Nested Loops..............................................................................................................................127
10.3. Loop Control...............................................................................................................................127
10.4. Testing and Branching................................................................................................................131

Chapter 11. Internal Commands and Builtins.............................................................................................138

11.1. Job Control Commands..............................................................................................................162

Chapter 12. External Filters, Programs and Commands...........................................................................167

12.1. Basic Commands........................................................................................................................167
12.2. Complex Commands...................................................................................................................172
12.3. Time / Date Commands..............................................................................................................181
12.4. Text Processing Commands........................................................................................................184
12.5. File and Archiving Commands...................................................................................................203
12.6. Communications Commands......................................................................................................219
12.7. Terminal Control Commands.....................................................................................................233
12.8. Math Commands.........................................................................................................................234
12.9. Miscellaneous Commands..........................................................................................................243

Chapter 13. System and Administrative Commands..................................................................................255

13.1. Analyzing a System Script..........................................................................................................281

Chapter 14. Command Substitution.............................................................................................................283

Chapter 15. Arithmetic Expansion................................................................................................................289

Chapter 16. I/O Redirection...........................................................................................................................290

16.1. Using exec...................................................................................................................................293
16.2. Redirecting Code Blocks............................................................................................................296
16.3. Applications................................................................................................................................300

Chapter 17. Here Documents.........................................................................................................................302

17.1. Here Strings................................................................................................................................311

Chapter 18. Recess Time................................................................................................................................314

Part 4. Advanced Topics.................................................................................................................................315

Chapter 19. Regular Expressions..................................................................................................................316

19.1. A Brief Introduction to Regular Expressions..............................................................................316
19.2. Globbing.....................................................................................................................................319

Chapter 20. Subshells.....................................................................................................................................321

Chapter 21. Restricted Shells.........................................................................................................................324

ii
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Table of Contents
Chapter 22. Process Substitution...................................................................................................................326

Chapter 23. Functions....................................................................................................................................329

23.1. Complex Functions and Function Complexities.........................................................................331
23.2. Local Variables...........................................................................................................................341
23.2.1. Local variables help make recursion possible...................................................................342
23.3. Recursion Without Local Variables............................................................................................343

Chapter 24. Aliases.........................................................................................................................................346

Chapter 25. List Constructs...........................................................................................................................349

Chapter 26. Arrays.........................................................................................................................................352

Chapter 27. /dev and /proc.............................................................................................................................378

27.1. /dev..............................................................................................................................................378
27.2. /proc............................................................................................................................................379

Chapter 28. Of Zeros and Nulls.....................................................................................................................384

Chapter 29. Debugging...................................................................................................................................387

Chapter 30. Options........................................................................................................................................397

Chapter 31. Gotchas.......................................................................................................................................399

Chapter 32. Scripting With Style..................................................................................................................407

32.1. Unofficial Shell Scripting Stylesheet..........................................................................................407

Chapter 33. Miscellany...................................................................................................................................410

33.1. Interactive and non−interactive shells and scripts......................................................................410
33.2. Shell Wrappers............................................................................................................................411
33.3. Tests and Comparisons: Alternatives..........................................................................................415
33.4. Recursion....................................................................................................................................416
33.5. "Colorizing" Scripts....................................................................................................................418
33.6. Optimizations..............................................................................................................................431
33.7. Assorted Tips..............................................................................................................................432
33.8. Security Issues............................................................................................................................441
33.8.1. Infected Shell Scripts.........................................................................................................441
33.8.2. Hiding Shell Script Source................................................................................................441
33.9. Portability Issues.........................................................................................................................441
33.10. Shell Scripting Under Windows...............................................................................................442

Chapter 34. Bash, versions 2 and 3...............................................................................................................443

34.1. Bash, version2.............................................................................................................................443
34.2. Bash, version 3............................................................................................................................447
34.2.1. Bash, version 3.1...............................................................................................................449

iii
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Table of Contents
Chapter 35. Endnotes.....................................................................................................................................450
35.1. Author's Note..............................................................................................................................450
35.2. About the Author........................................................................................................................450
35.3. Where to Go For Help.................................................................................................................450
35.4. Tools Used to Produce This Book..............................................................................................451
35.4.1. Hardware...........................................................................................................................451
35.4.2. Software and Printware.....................................................................................................451
35.5. Credits.........................................................................................................................................451

Bibliography....................................................................................................................................................454

Appendix A. Contributed Scripts..................................................................................................................461

Appendix B. Reference Cards........................................................................................................................588

Appendix C. A Sed and Awk Micro−Primer................................................................................................593

C.1. Sed................................................................................................................................................593
C.2. Awk..............................................................................................................................................596

Appendix D. Exit Codes With Special Meanings.........................................................................................599

Appendix E. A Detailed Introduction to I/O and I/O Redirection.............................................................600

Appendix F. Command−Line Options..........................................................................................................602

F.1. Standard Command−Line Options...............................................................................................602
F.2. Bash Command−Line Options.....................................................................................................603

Appendix G. Important Files.........................................................................................................................605

Appendix H. Important System Directories.................................................................................................606

Appendix I. Localization................................................................................................................................608

Appendix J. History Commands...................................................................................................................612

Appendix K. A Sample .bashrc File..............................................................................................................613

Appendix L. Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts.........................................................................624

Appendix M. Exercises...................................................................................................................................628
M.1. Analyzing Scripts........................................................................................................................628
M.2. Writing Scripts............................................................................................................................629

Appendix N. Revision History.......................................................................................................................637

Appendix O. Mirror Sites...............................................................................................................................639

iv
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Table of Contents
Appendix P. To Do List..................................................................................................................................640

Appendix Q. Copyright..................................................................................................................................642
Notes....................................................................................................................................................643

v
Chapter 1. Why Shell Programming?
No programming language is perfect. There is not
even a single best language; there are only languages
well suited or perhaps poorly suited for particular
purposes.
Herbert Mayer
A working knowledge of shell scripting is essential to anyone wishing to become reasonably proficient 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 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 classic 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 arithmetic, arbitrary
precision calculations, or complex numbers (use C++ or FORTRAN instead)
• Cross−platform portability required (use C or Java instead)
• Complex applications, where structured programming is a necessity (need type−checking 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 native support for 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

Chapter 1. Why Shell Programming? 1

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
• Proprietary, closed−source applications (shell scripts put the source code right out in the open for all
the world to see)

If any of the above applies, consider a more powerful scripting language −− perhaps Perl, Tcl, Python, Ruby
−− 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 this book covers 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 an October, 1993 Usenet post by Tom
Christiansen.)

What follows is a tutorial on shell scripting. It relies heavily on examples to illustrate various features of the
shell. The example scripts work −− they've been tested, insofar as was possible −− and some of them are even
useful in real life. The reader can play with the actual working code of the examples in the source archive
(scriptname.sh or scriptname.bash), [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 presented
here introduce features before they are explained, and this may require the reader to temporarily skip ahead
for enlightenment.

Unless otherwise noted, the author of this book wrote the example scripts that follow.

Chapter 1. Why Shell Programming? 2

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang
Shell programming is a 1950s juke box . . .
Larry Wall
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, only 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 becomes a tool, and can easily be modified or
customized for a particular application.

Example 2−2. cleanup: An improved clean−up script

#!/bin/bash
# Proper header for a Bash script.

# Cleanup, version 2

# Run as root, of course.

# Insert code here to print error message and exit if not root.

LOG_DIR=/var/log
# Variables are better than hard−coded values.
cd $LOG_DIR

cat /dev/null > messages

cat /dev/null > wtmp

echo "Logs cleaned up."

exit # The right and proper method of "exiting" from a script.

Now that's beginning to look like a real script. But we can go even farther . . .

Example 2−3. cleanup: An enhanced and generalized version of above scripts.

#!/bin/bash
# Cleanup, version 3

# Warning:
# −−−−−−−
# This script uses quite a number of features that will be explained

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang 3

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#+ later on.
# By the time you've finished the first half of the book,
#+ there should be nothing mysterious about it.

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.

# Run as root, of course.

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

# 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;
# }

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang 4

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 version of the 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 [4] magic number, a special marker that
designates a file type, or in this case an executable shell script (type 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 a utility. This
command interpreter then executes the commands in the script, starting at the top (line following the
sha−bang line), ignoring comments. [5]

#!/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. [6] Using #!/bin/sh, the default Bourne shell in most commercial
variants of UNIX, makes the script portable to non−Linux machines, though you sacrifice Bash−specific
features. The script will, however, conform to the POSIX [7] 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. The second example, above, requires the initial #!, since the variable assignment line, lines=50,
uses a shell−specific construct. [8] Note again 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 quite an
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.

E_WRONG_ARGS=65
script_parameters="−a −h −m −z"
# −a = all, −h = help, etc.

if [ $# −ne $Number_of_expected_args ]

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang 5

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` $script_parameters"
# `basename $0` is the script's filename.
exit $E_WRONG_ARGS
fi
Many times, you will write a script that carries out one particular task. The first script in this chapter is
an example of this. Later, it might occur to you to generalize the script to do other, similar tasks.
Replacing the literal ("hard−wired") constants by variables is a step in that direction, as is replacing
repetitive code blocks by functions.

2.1. Invoking the script

Having written the script, you can invoke it by sh scriptname, [9] 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) [10]
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. [11] 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.

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.

Chapter 2. Starting Off With a Sha−Bang 6

Part 2. Basics
Table of Contents
3. Special Characters
4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters
4.1. Variable Substitution
4.2. Variable Assignment
4.3. Bash Variables Are Untyped
4.4. Special Variable Types
5. Quoting
5.1. Quoting Variables
5.2. Escaping
6. Exit and Exit Status
7. Tests
7.1. Test Constructs
7.2. File test operators
7.3. Other Comparison Operators
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

Part 2. Basics 7
Chapter 3. 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 following the end of a command.

echo "A comment will follow." # Comment here.

# ^ Note whitespace before #
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.

echo hello; echo there

if [ −x "$filename" ]; then # Note that "if" and "then" need separation.

# Why?
echo "File $filename exists."; cp $filename $filename.bak
else
echo "File $filename not found."; touch $filename
fi; echo "File test complete."
Note that the ";" sometimes needs to be escaped.
;;
Terminator in a case option [double semicolon].

case "$variable" in
abc) echo "\$variable = abc" ;;

Chapter 3. Special Characters 8

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
xyz) echo "\$variable = xyz" ;;
esac
.

"dot" command [period]. Equivalent to source (see Example 11−21). 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.

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 5.
'
full quoting [single quote]. 'STRING' preserves all special characters within STRING. This is a
stronger form of quoting than using ". See also Chapter 5.
,
comma operator. The comma operator links together a series of arithmetic operations. All are
evaluated, but only the last one is returned.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 9

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
let "t2 = ((a = 9, 15 / 3))" # Set "a = 9" and "t2 = 15 / 3"
\
escape [backslash]. A quoting mechanism for single characters.

\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 5 for an in−depth explanation of escaped characters.

/
Filename path separator [forward slash]. Separates the components of a filename (as in
/home/bozo/projects/Makefile).

This is also the division arithmetic operator.

`
command substitution. The `command` construct makes available the output of command for
assignment to a variable. This is also known as backquotes or backticks.
:

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 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`} Gives an error without the leading :
# unless "username" is a command or builtin...
Provide a placeholder where a command is expected in a here document. See Example 17−10.

Evaluate string of variables using parameter substitution (as in Example 9−15).

Chapter 3. Special Characters 10

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
: ${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 12−14.

In combination with the >> redirection operator, has no effect on a pre−existing target file (: >>
target_file). If the file did not previously exist, creates it.

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 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 [bang]. The ! operator inverts the exit status of
the command to which it is applied (see Example 6−2). 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 J). Note that within a script, the history mechanism is disabled.
*
wild card [asterisk]. The * character serves as a "wild card" for filename expansion in globbing. By
itself, it matches every filename in a given directory.

bash$ echo *
abs−book.sgml add−drive.sh agram.sh alias.sh

The * also represents 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.

?

Chapter 3. Special Characters 11

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 9−31.

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 (contents of a variable).

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.
$$
process ID variable. The $$ variable holds the process ID [12] 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.

cat {file1,file2,file3} > combined_file

# Concatenates the files file1, file2, and file3 into combined_file.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 12

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

cp file22.{txt,backup}
# Copies "file22.txt" to "file22.backup"
A command may act upon a comma−separated list of file specs within braces. [13] 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 (a function without a name). However, unlike in a "standard" function, the
variables inside 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 3−1. 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

# Now, how do you parse the separate fields of each line?

# Hint: use awk.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 13

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Example 3−2. 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
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. [14]
{} \;
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.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 14

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Test expression between [[ ]] (shell keyword).

See the discussion on the [[ ... ]] construct.

[]
array element.

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 is created.

[i]<>filename opens file filename for reading and writing, and assigns file descriptor i to it. If
filename does not exist, it is 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 12−9.
<<
redirection used in a here document.
<<<
redirection used in a here string.
<, >

Chapter 3. Special Characters 15

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 $filename1 $filename2 | 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
Now, let us pipe the output of ls −l to 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.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 16

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 3−3. Running a loop in the background

#!/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

Chapter 3. Special Characters 17

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# (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

# Nasimuddin Ansari suggests adding sleep 1

#+ after the echo −n "$i" in lines 6 and 14,
#+ for some real fun.

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

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
# 3) tar cf − . The 'c' option 'tar' archiving command creates a new archive,
# the 'f' (file) option, followed by '−' designates the target
# and do it in current directory tree ('.').
# 4) | Piped to...
# 5) ( ... ) a subshell
# 6) cd /dest/directory Change to the destination directory.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 18

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# 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 ../dest/directory; tar xpvf −)
#
# Also having same effect:
# cp −a /source/directory/* /dest/directory
# Or:
# cp −a /source/directory/* /source/directory/.[^.]* /dest/directory
# If there are hidden files in /source/directory.

bunzip2 −c linux−2.6.16.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, file fails 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 stdin and 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:

Chapter 3. Special Characters 19

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

grep Linux file1 | diff file2 −

Finally, a real−world example using − with tar.

Example 3−4. Backup of all files changed in last day

#!/bin/bash

# Backs up all files in current directory modified within last 24 hours

#+ in a "tarball" (tarred and gzipped file).

BACKUPFILE=backup−$(date +%m−%d−%Y)
# Embeds date in backup filename.
# Thanks, Joshua Tschida, for the idea.
archive=${1:−$BACKUPFILE}
# If no backup−archive filename specified on command line,
#+ it will default to "backup−MM−DD−YYYY.tar.gz."

tar cvf − `find . −mtime −1 −type f −print` > $archive.tar

gzip $archive.tar
echo "Directory $PWD backed up in archive file \"$archive.tar.gz\"."

# 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 "$archive.tar"
# using the GNU version of "find".

# find . −mtime −1 −type f −exec tar rvf "$archive.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. A cd − command 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

Chapter 3. Special Characters 20

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

discussed. The interpretation of the "−" depends on the context in which it appears.
−
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

~+
current working directory. This corresponds to the $PWD internal variable.
~−
previous working directory. This corresponds to the $OLDPWD internal variable.
=~
regular expression match. This operator was introduced with version 3 of Bash.
^
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 (pressed simultaneously). A control character may also be written in octal or

Chapter 3. Special Characters 21

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
hexadecimal notation, following an escape.

Control characters are not normally useful inside a script.

◊ Ctl−B

Backspace (nondestructive).
◊ Ctl−C

Break. Terminate a foreground job.

◊
Ctl−D

Log out from a shell (similar to exit).

"EOF" (end of file). This also terminates input from stdin.

When typing text on the console or in an xterm window, Ctl−D erases the character under
the cursor. When there are no characters present, Ctl−D logs out of the session, as expected.
In an xterm window, this has the effect of closing the window.
◊ Ctl−G

"BEL" (beep). On some old−time teletype terminals, this would actually ring a bell.
◊ Ctl−H

"Rubout" (destructive backspace). Erases characters the cursor backs over while backspacing.

#!/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−I

Horizontal tab.
◊ Ctl−J

Newline (line feed). In a script, may also be expressed in octal notation −− '\012' or in
hexadecimal −− '\x0a'.
◊ Ctl−K

Vertical tab.

When typing text on the console or in an xterm window, Ctl−K erases from the character
under the cursor to end of line. Within a script, Ctl−K may behave differently, as in Lee Lee
Maschmeyer's example, below.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 22

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
◊ Ctl−L

Formfeed (clear the terminal screen). In a terminal, this has the same effect as the clear
command. When sent to a printer, a Ctl−L causes an advance to end of the paper sheet.
◊ Ctl−M

Carriage return.

#!/bin/bash
# Thank you, Lee Maschmeyer, for this example.

read −n 1 −s −p $'Control−M leaves cursor at beginning of this line. Press Enter. \x

# Of course, '0d' is the hex equivalent of Control
echo >&2 # The '−s' makes anything typed silent,
#+ so it is necessary to go to new line explicitly.

read −n 1 −s −p $'Control−J leaves cursor on next line. \x0a'

# '0a' is the hex equivalent of Control−J, linefeed.
echo >&2

###

read −n 1 −s −p $'And Control−K\x0bgoes straight down.'

echo >&2 # Control−K is vertical tab.

# A better example of the effect of a vertical tab is:

var=$'\x0aThis is the bottom line\x0bThis is the top line\x0a'

echo "$var"
# This works the same way as the above example. However:
echo "$var" | col
# This causes the right end of the line to be higher than the left end.
# It also explains why we started and ended with a line feed −−
#+ to avoid a garbled screen.

# As Lee Maschmeyer explains:

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# In the [first vertical tab example] . . . the vertical tab
#+ makes the printing go straight down without a carriage return.
# This is true only on devices, such as the Linux console,
#+ that can't go "backward."
# The real purpose of VT is to go straight UP, not down.
# It can be used to print superscripts on a printer.
# The col utility can be used to emulate the proper behavior of VT.

exit 0
◊ Ctl−Q

Resume (XON).

This resumes stdin in a terminal.

◊ Ctl−S

Suspend (XOFF).

This freezes stdin in a terminal. (Use Ctl−Q to restore input.)

◊ Ctl−U

Chapter 3. Special Characters 23

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

Erase a line of input, from the cursor backward to beginning of line. In some settings, Ctl−U
erases the entire line of input, regardless of cursor position.
◊ Ctl−V

When inputting text, Ctl−V permits inserting control characters. For example, the following
two are equivalent:

echo −e '\x0a'
echo <Ctl−V><Ctl−J>
Ctl−V is primarily useful from within a text editor.
◊ Ctl−W

When typing text on the console or in an xterm window, Ctl−W erases from the character
under the cursor backwards to the first instance of whitespace. In some settings, Ctl−W
erases backwards to first non−alphanumeric character.
◊ 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. [15] 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.

To preserve whitespace within a string or in a variable, use quoting.

Chapter 3. Special Characters 24

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and
Parameters
Variables are how programming and scripting languages represent data. A variable is nothing more than a
label, a name assigned to a location or set of locations in computer memory holding an item of data.

Variables appear in arithmetic operations and manipulation of quantities, and in string parsing.

4.1. 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.

bash$ variable=23

bash$ echo variable

variable

bash$ echo $variable

23
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
29−5). 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 5 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 4−1. 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.
# What happens if there is a space?

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 25

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# "VARIABLE =value"
# ^
#% Script tries to run "VARIABLE" command with one argument, "=value".

# "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".

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=21 var2=22 var3=$V3

echo
echo "var1=$var1 var2=$var2 var3=$var3"

# May cause problems with older versions of "sh" . . .

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

echo; echo

numbers="one two three"

# ^ ^

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 26

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
other_numbers="1 2 3"
# ^ ^
# If there is whitespace embedded within a variable,
#+ then quotes are necessary.
# other_numbers=1 2 3 # Gives an error message.
echo "numbers = $numbers"
echo "other_numbers = $other_numbers" # other_numbers = 1 2 3
# Escaping the whitespace also works.
mixed_bag=2\ −−−\ Whatever
# ^ ^ Space after escape (\).

echo "$mixed_bag" # 2 −−− Whatever

echo; echo

echo "uninitialized_variable = $uninitialized_variable"

# 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 usually cause problems.

It is nevertheless possible to perform arithmetic operations on an uninitialized

variable.

echo "$uninitialized" # (blank line)

let "uninitialized += 5" # Add 5 to it.
echo "$uninitialized" # 5

# Conclusion:
# An uninitialized variable has no value,
#+ however it acts as if it were 0 in an arithmetic operation.
# This is undocumented (and probably non−portable) behavior.
See also Example 11−22.

4.2. Variable Assignment

=
the assignment operator (no space before and 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 4−2. Plain Variable Assignment

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 27

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#!/bin/bash
# Naked variables

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 "Values of \"a\" in the loop are: "
for a in 7 8 9 11
do
echo −n "$a "
done

echo
echo

# 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 4−3. 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 including an exclamation mark (!) within a
#+ command substitution construct #+ will not work from the command line,
#+ since this triggers the Bash "history mechanism."
# Inside 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.")

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 28

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
exit 0
Variable assignment using the $(...) mechanism (a newer method than backquotes). This is actually a
form of command substitution.

# From /etc/rc.d/rc.local
R=$(cat /etc/redhat−release)
arch=$(uname −m)

4.3. 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 4−4. Integer or string?

#!/bin/bash
# int−or−string.sh: Integer or string?

a=2334 # Integer.
let "a += 1"
echo "a = $a " # a = 2335
echo # Integer, still.

b=${a/23/BB} # Substitute "BB" for "23".

# This transforms $b into a string.
echo "b = $b" # b = BB35
declare −i b # Declaring it an integer doesn't help.
echo "b = $b" # b = BB35

let "b += 1" # BB35 + 1 =

echo "b = $b" # b = 1
echo

c=BB34
echo "c = $c" # c = BB34
d=${c/BB/23} # Substitute "23" for "BB".
# This makes $d an integer.
echo "d = $d" # d = 2334
let "d += 1" # 2334 + 1 =
echo "d = $d" # d = 2335
echo

# What about null variables?

e=""
echo "e = $e" # e =
let "e += 1" # Arithmetic operations allowed on a null variable?
echo "e = $e" # e = 1
echo # Null variable transformed into an integer.

# What about undeclared variables?

echo "f = $f" # f =
let "f += 1" # Arithmetic operations allowed?
echo "f = $f" # f = 1
echo # Undeclared variable transformed into an integer.

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 29

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

# Variables in Bash are essentially untyped.

exit 0
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.

4.4. 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 environmental 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, Stéphane Chazelas 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 . . .

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 30

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
$0 is the name of the script itself, $1 is the first argument, $2 the second, $3 the third, and so forth.
[16] After $9, the arguments must be enclosed in brackets, for example, ${10}, ${11}, ${12}.

The special variables $* and $@ denote all the positional parameters.

Example 4−5. 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
MINPARAMS=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 "−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−"
echo "All the command−line parameters are: "$*""

if [ $# −lt "$MINPARAMS" ]
then
echo
echo "This script needs at least $MINPARAMS command−line arguments!"
fi

echo

exit 0
Bracket notation for positional parameters leads to a fairly simple way of referencing the last
argument passed to a script on the command line. This also requires indirect referencing.

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 31

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
args=$# # Number of args passed.
lastarg=${!args}
# Or: lastarg=${!#}
# (Thanks, Chris Monson.)
# Note that lastarg=${!$#} doesn't work.
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. See Example 12−2.

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.
variable1_=$1_ # Rather than variable1=$1
# This will prevent an error, even if positional parameter is absent.

critical_argument01=$variable1_

# The extra character can be stripped off later, like so.

variable1=${variable1_/_/}
# Side effects only if $variable1_ begins with an underscore.
# This uses one of the parameter substitution templates discussed later.
# (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 $E_MISSING_POS_PARAM
fi

# However, as Fabian Kreutz points out,

#+ the above method may have unexpected side−effects.
# A better method is parameter substitution:
# ${1:−$DefaultVal}
# See the "Parameter Substition" section
#+ in the "Variables Revisited" chapter.
−−−

Example 4−6. wh, whois domain name lookup

#!/bin/bash
# ex18.sh

# Does a 'whois domain−name' lookup on any of 3 alternate servers:

# ripe.net, cw.net, radb.net

# Place this script −− renamed '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

E_NOARGS=65

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 32

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

if [ −z "$1" ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` [domain−name]"
exit $E_NOARGS
fi

# Check script name and call proper server.

case `basename $0` in # Or: case ${0##*/} in
"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 $?
−−−

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 4−7. 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 works in a similar fashion on parameters passed to a function. See
Example 33−15.

Chapter 4. Introduction to Variables and Parameters 33

Chapter 5. 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

In everyday speech or writing, when we "quote" a phrase, we set it apart and give it special meaning. In a
Bash script, when we quote a string, we set it apart and protect its literal meaning.
Certain programs and utilities reinterpret or expand special characters in a quoted string. An important use of
quoting is 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.
Note that the unquoted grep [Ff]irst *.txt works under the Bash shell. [17]

Quoting can also suppress echo's "appetite" for newlines.

bash$ echo $(ls −l)

total 8 −rw−rw−r−− 1 bozo bozo 130 Aug 21 12:57 t222.sh −rw−rw−r−− 1 bozo bozo 78 Aug 21 12:57 t7

bash$ echo "$(ls −l)"

total 8
−rw−rw−r−− 1 bozo bozo 130 Aug 21 12:57 t222.sh
−rw−rw−r−− 1 bozo bozo 78 Aug 21 12:57 t71.sh

5.1. Quoting Variables

When referencing a variable, it is generally advisable to enclose its name in double quotes. This prevents
reinterpretation of all special characters within the quoted string −− the variable name [18] −− except $, `
(backquote), and \ (escape). [19] Keeping $ as a special character within double quotes permits referencing a
quoted variable ("$variable"), that is, replacing the variable with its value (see Example 4−1, above).

Use double quotes to prevent word splitting. [20] 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"

Chapter 5. Quoting 34
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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).

# Thanks, Stéphane Chazelas.

Enclosing the arguments to an echo statement in double quotes is necessary only when word splitting or
preservation of whitespace is an issue.

Example 5−1. 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. Why?
echo "$var" # '(]\{}$"

# Examples above supplied by Stephane Chazelas.

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 Stéphane Chazelas.

5.2. Escaping
Escaping is a method of quoting single characters. The escape (\) preceding a character tells the shell to
interpret that character literally.

Chapter 5. Quoting 35
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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

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 5−2. Escaped Characters

#!/bin/bash
# escaped.sh: escaped characters

echo; echo

echo "\v\v\v\v" # Prints \v\v\v\v literally.

# Use the −e option with 'echo' to print escaped characters.
echo "============="
echo "VERTICAL TABS"
echo −e "\v\v\v\v" # Prints 4 vertical tabs.
echo "=============="

echo "QUOTATION MARK"

echo −e "\042" # Prints " (quote, octal ASCII character 42).
echo "=============="

# The $'\X' construct makes the −e option unnecessary.

echo; echo "NEWLINE AND BEEP"
echo $'\n' # Newline.
echo $'\a' # Alert (beep).

echo "==============="
echo "QUOTATION MARKS"
# Version 2 and later of Bash permits using the $'\nnn' construct.
# Note that in this case, '\nnn' is an octal value.
echo $'\t \042 \t' # Quote (") framed by tabs.

# It also works with hexadecimal values, in an $'\xhhh' construct.

echo $'\t \x22 \t' # Quote (") framed by tabs.
# Thank you, Greg Keraunen, for pointing this out.
# Earlier Bash versions allowed '\x022'.
echo "==============="

Chapter 5. Quoting 36
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
echo

# 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"

echo

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 34−1 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 \

# Whereas . . .

echo "\" # Invokes secondary prompt from the command line.

# In a script, gives an error message.

The behavior of \ depends on whether it is itself escaped, quoted, or appearing within command
substitution or a here document.

# Simple escaping and quoting

echo \z # z
echo \\z # \z
echo '\z' # \z
echo '\\z' # \\z
echo "\z" # \z
echo "\\z" # \z

Chapter 5. Quoting 37
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

# 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 Stéphane 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" # \

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.

Chapter 5. Quoting 38
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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, Stéphane 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.

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.

Chapter 5. Quoting 39
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#foo\
#bar

# Examples suggested by Stéphane Chazelas.

Chapter 5. Quoting 40
Chapter 6. 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 (previous to the exit).

#!/bin/bash

COMMAND_1

. . .

# Will exit with status of last command.

COMMAND_LAST

exit
The equivalent of a bare exit is exit $? or even just omitting the exit.

#!/bin/bash

COMMAND_1

. . .

# Will exit with status of last command.

COMMAND_LAST

exit $?

#!/bin/bash

COMMAND1

. . .

# Will exit with status of last command.

COMMAND_LAST

$? 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

Chapter 6. Exit and Exit Status 41

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 6−1. 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.
$? is especially useful for testing the result of a command in a script (see Example 12−32 and Example
12−17).

The !, the logical "not" qualifier, reverses the outcome of a test or command, and this affects its exit
status.

Example 6−2. 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
#
# The '!' operator prefixing a command invokes the Bash history mechanism.

true
!true
# No error this time, but no negation either.
# It just repeats the previous command (true).

# Thanks, Stéphane Chazelas and Kristopher Newsome.

Certain exit status codes have reserved meanings and should not be user−specified in a script.

Chapter 6. Exit and Exit Status 42

Chapter 7. 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.

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

# The very useful "if−grep" construct:

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
if grep −q Bash file
then echo "File contains at least one occurrence of Bash."
fi

word=Linux
letter_sequence=inu
if echo "$word" | grep −q "$letter_sequence"
# The "−q" option to grep suppresses output.
then
echo "$letter_sequence found in $word"
else
echo "$letter_sequence not found in $word"
fi

if COMMAND_WHOSE_EXIT_STATUS_IS_0_UNLESS_ERROR_OCCURRED
then echo "Command succeeded."

Chapter 7. Tests 43
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
else echo "Command failed."
fi
• An if/then construct can contain nested comparisons and tests.
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 Stéphane Chazelas.

Example 7−1. What is truth?

#!/bin/bash

# Tip:
# If you're unsure of how a certain condition would evaluate,
#+ test it in an if−test.

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

echo "Testing \"NULL\""

if [ ] # NULL (empty condition)
then

Chapter 7. Tests 44
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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.

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.

Chapter 7. Tests 45
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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.

# What would happen if we tested the uninitialized variable "$true"?

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

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

Chapter 7. Tests 46
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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.

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.

# if /usr/bin/[ −z "$1" # Works, but gives an error message.

Chapter 7. Tests 47
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# # Note:
# This has been fixed in Bash, version 3.x.
then
echo "No command−line arguments."
else
echo "First command−line argument is $1."
fi

echo

exit 0
The [[ ]] construct is the more versatile Bash version 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.

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 (( ))

Chapter 7. Tests 48
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#!/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 "Exit status of \"(( 5 > 4 ))\" is $?." # 0

(( 5 > 9 )) # false
echo "Exit status of \"(( 5 > 9 ))\" is $?." # 1

(( 5 − 5 )) # 0
echo "Exit status of \"(( 5 − 5 ))\" is $?." # 1

(( 5 / 4 )) # Division o.k.
echo "Exit status of \"(( 5 / 4 ))\" is $?." # 0

(( 1 / 2 )) # Division result < 1.

echo "Exit status of \"(( 1 / 2 ))\" is $?." # Rounded off to 0.
# 1

(( 1 / 0 )) 2>/dev/null # Illegal division by 0.

# ^^^^^^^^^^^
echo "Exit status of \"(( 1 / 0 ))\" is $?." # 1

# What effect does the "2>/dev/null" have?

# What would happen if it were removed?
# Try removing it, then rerunning the script.

exit 0

7.2. File test operators

Returns true if...

−e
file exists
−a
file exists

This is identical in effect to −e. It has been "deprecated," and its use is discouraged.
−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

Chapter 7. Tests 49
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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
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. [21] 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. [22] 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. (The owner of the directory or root
can, of course, delete or rename files there.)

Chapter 7. Tests 50
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
−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
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 7−4. Testing for broken links

#!/bin/bash
# broken−link.sh
# Written by Lee bigelow <[email protected]>
# Used with permission.

#A pure shell script to find dead symlinks and output them quoted
#so they can be fed to xargs and dealt with :)
#eg. broken−link.sh /somedir /someotherdir|xargs rm
#
#This, however, is a better method:
#
#find "somedir" −type l −print0|\
#xargs −r0 file|\
#grep "broken symbolic"|
#sed −e 's/^\|: *broken symbolic.*$/"/g'
#
#but that wouldn't be pure bash, now would it.
#Caution: beware the /proc file system and any circular links!
##############################################################

#If no args are passed to the script set directorys to search

#to current directory. Otherwise set the directorys to search
#to the agrs passed.
####################
[ $# −eq 0 ] && directorys=`pwd` || directorys=$@

#Setup the function linkchk to check the directory it is passed

#for files that are links and don't exist, then print them quoted.
#If one of the elements in the directory is a subdirectory then
#send that send that subdirectory to the linkcheck function.
##########
linkchk () {
for element in $1/*; do
[ −h "$element" −a ! −e "$element" ] && echo \"$element\"
[ −d "$element" ] && linkchk $element
# Of course, '−h' tests for symbolic link, '−d' for directory.
done
}

Chapter 7. Tests 51
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#Send each arg that was passed to the script to the linkchk function
#if it is a valid directoy. If not, then print the error message
#and usage info.
################
for directory in $directorys; do
if [ −d $directory ]
then linkchk $directory
else
echo "$directory is not a directory"
echo "Usage: $0 dir1 dir2 ..."
fi
done

exit 0
Example 28−1, Example 10−7, Example 10−3, Example 28−3, and Example A−1 also illustrate uses of the
file test operators.

7.3. Other Comparison Operators

A binary comparison operator compares two variables or quantities. Note the separation between integer and
string comparison.

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)

Chapter 7. Tests 52
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

(("$a" < "$b"))

<=
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 =.

The == comparison operator behaves differently within a double−brackets test than

within single brackets.

[[ $a == z* ]] # True if $a starts with an "z" (pattern matching).

[[ $a == "z*" ]] # True if $a is equal to z* (literal matching).

[ $a == z* ] # File globbing and word splitting take place.

[ "$a" == "z*" ] # True if $a is equal to z* (literal matching).

# Thanks, Stéphane Chazelas

!=
is not equal to

if [ "$a" != "$b" ]

This operator uses pattern matching within a [[ ... ]] construct.

<
is less than, in ASCII alphabetical order

if [[ "$a" < "$b" ]]

if [ "$a" \< "$b" ]

Note that the "<" needs to be escaped within a [ ] construct.

Chapter 7. Tests 53
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

>
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 26−11 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 7−6) normally works, however, this is an unsafe practice.
Always quote a tested string. [23]

Example 7−5. Arithmetic and string comparisons

#!/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, however.

echo

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)"
# "4" != "5"
# ASCII 52 != ASCII 53
fi

# In this particular instance, both "−ne" and "!=" work.

echo

Chapter 7. Tests 54
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

exit 0

Example 7−6. 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."
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 [ $string1 ] has one argument, "]"
# if [ "$string1" ] has two arguments, the empty "$string1" and "]"

echo

Chapter 7. Tests 55
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
string1=initialized

if [ $string1 ] # Again, $string1 stands naked.

then
echo "String \"string1\" is not null."
else
echo "String \"string1\" is null."
fi
# 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
# Thank you, also, Florian Wisser, for the "heads−up".

Example 7−7. zmore

#!/bin/bash
# zmore

#View gzipped files with 'more'

NOARGS=65
NOTFOUND=66
NOTGZIP=67

if [ $# −eq 0 ] # same effect as: if [ −z "$1" ]

# $1 can exist, but be empty: zmore "" 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
echo "File $1 is not a gzipped file!"
exit $NOTGZIP
fi

Chapter 7. Tests 56
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
zcat $1 | more

# Uses the filter 'more.'

# May substitute 'less', if desired.

exit $? # Script returns exit status of pipe.

# Actually "exit $?" is 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, Example 26−16, and Example A−28 to see compound comparison operators in action.

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 34−4 for an example of nested if/then condition tests.

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

Chapter 7. Tests 57
 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# (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.

Chapter 7. Tests 58
Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics
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

# 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$ expr 5 % 3
2

5/3 = 1 with remainder 2

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 59

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
This operator finds use in, among other things, generating numbers within a specific range (see
Example 9−25 and Example 9−28) and formatting program output (see Example 26−15 and Example
A−6). 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 ()
{

dividend=$1 # Arbitrary assignment.

divisor=$2 #! It doesn't matter which of the two is larger.
# Why not?

remainder=1 # If uninitialized variable used in loop,

#+ it results in an error message
#+ on the 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.

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 60

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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

#!/bin/bash
# Counting to 11 in 10 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 ))
# A simpler alternative to the method above.
# Thanks, David Lombard, for pointing this out.
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.

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 61

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
echo −n "$n "

n=$[ $n + 1 ]
# Works even if "n" was initialized as a string.
#* Avoid this type of construct, since it is obsolete and nonportable.
# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.
echo −n "$n "

# Now for C−style increment operators.

# Thanks, Frank Wang, for pointing this out.

let "n++" # let "++n" also works.

echo −n "$n "

(( n++ )) # (( ++n ) also works.

echo −n "$n "

: $(( n++ )) # : $(( ++n )) also works.

echo −n "$n "

: $[ n++ ] # : $[ ++n ]] also works

echo −n "$n "

echo

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)
As of version 2.05b, Bash supports 64−bit integers.

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

<<

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 62

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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
^=
"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.

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 63

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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 ']'.
#
# Note: if [[ $a −eq 24 && $b −eq 24 ]] works.
# The double−bracket if−test is more flexible
#+ than the single−bracket version.
# (The "&&" has a different meaning in line 17 than in line 6.)
# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas, for pointing this out.

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

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 64

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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.

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.

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 # evaluates as BASE#NUMBER (with range and notational restrictions).

Example 8−4. Representation of numerical constants

#!/bin/bash
# numbers.sh: Representation of numbers in different bases.

# Decimal: the default

let "dec = 32"
echo "decimal number = $dec" # 32
# Nothing out of the ordinary here.

# Octal: numbers preceded by '0' (zero)

let "oct = 032"
echo "octal number = $oct" # 26
# Expresses result in decimal.
# −−−−−−−−− −−−−−− −− −−−−−−−

# Hexadecimal: numbers preceded by '0x' or '0X'

let "hex = 0x32"
echo "hexadecimal number = $hex" # 50
# Expresses result in decimal.

# Other bases: BASE#NUMBER

# BASE between 2 and 64.
# NUMBER must use symbols within the BASE range, see below.

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 65

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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" # 4031
# This notation only works for a limited range (2 − 64) of ASCII characters.
# 10 digits + 26 lowercase characters + 26 uppercase characters + @ + _

echo

echo $((36#zz)) $((2#10101010)) $((16#AF16)) $((53#1aA))

# 1295 170 44822 3375

# Important note:
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# Using a digit out of range of the specified base notation
#+ gives an error message.

let "bad_oct = 081"

# (Partial) error message output:
# bad_oct = 081: value too great for base (error token is "081")
# Octal numbers use only digits in the range 0 − 7.

exit 0 # Thanks, Rich Bartell and Stephane Chazelas, for clarification.

Chapter 8. Operations and Related Topics 66

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
13.1. Analyzing a System Script
14. Command Substitution
15. Arithmetic Expansion
16. I/O Redirection
16.1. Using exec
16.2. Redirecting Code Blocks
16.3. Applications
17. Here Documents
17.1. Here Strings
18. Recess Time

Part 3. Beyond the Basics 67

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited
Used properly, variables can add power and flexibility to scripts. This requires learning their subtleties and
nuances.

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_SUBSHELL
a variable indicating the subshell level. This is a new addition to Bash, version 3.

See Example 20−1 for usage.

$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] = 3 # Major version no.

# BASH_VERSINFO[1] = 00 # Minor version no.
# BASH_VERSINFO[2] = 14 # 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

3.00.14(1)−release

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)

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 68

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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.

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 9−15)
$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 9−15.
$HOSTTYPE
host type

Like $MACHTYPE, identifies the system hardware.

bash$ echo $HOSTTYPE

i686
$IFS
internal field separator

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 69

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
This variable determines how Bash recognizes fields, or word boundaries when it interprets character
strings.

$IFS 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 5−1.

bash$ echo $IFS | cat −vte

$
(Show tabs and display "$" at end−of−line.)

bash$ bash −c 'set w x y z; IFS=":−;"; echo "$*"'

w:x:y:z
(Read commands from string and assign any arguments to pos params.)

$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]
# []
# []
# []

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 70

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

# 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.)

See also Example 12−37, Example 10−7, and Example 17−14 for instructive examples of using
$IFS.
$IGNOREEOF
ignore EOF: how many end−of−files (control−D) the shell will ignore before logging out.
$LC_COLLATE
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
$OLDPWD
old working directory ("OLD−print−working−directory", previous directory you were in)
$OSTYPE
operating system type

bash$ echo $OSTYPE

linux
$PATH
path to binaries, usually /usr/bin/, /usr/X11R6/bin/, /usr/local/bin, etc.

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 71

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 Appendix G).

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
Array variable holding exit status(es) of last executed foreground pipe. Interestingly enough, this does
not necessarily 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

The members of the $PIPESTATUS array hold the exit status of each respective command executed
in a pipe. $PIPESTATUS[0] holds the exit status of the first command in the pipe,
$PIPESTATUS[1] the exit status of the second command, and so on.

The $PIPESTATUS variable may contain an erroneous 0 value in a login shell (in
releases prior to 3.0 of Bash).

tcsh% bash

bash$ who | grep nobody | sort

bash$ echo ${PIPESTATUS[*]}
0

The above lines contained in a script would produce the expected 0 1 0 output.

Thank you, Wayne Pollock for pointing this out and supplying the above example.

The $PIPESTATUS variable gives unexpected results in some contexts.

bash$ echo $BASH_VERSION

3.00.14(1)−release

bash$ $ ls | bogus_command | wc

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 72

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

bash: bogus_command: command not found

0 0 0

bash$ echo ${PIPESTATUS[@]}

141 127 0

Chet Ramey attributes the above output to the behavior of ls. If ls writes to a pipe
whose output is not read, then SIGPIPE kills it, and its exit status is 141. Otherwise its
exit status is 0, as expected. This likewise is the case for tr.

$PIPESTATUS is a "volatile" variable. It needs to be captured immediately after the

pipe in question, before any other command intervenes.

bash$ $ ls | bogus_command | wc
bash: bogus_command: command not found
0 0 0

bash$ echo ${PIPESTATUS[@]}

0 127 0

bash$ echo ${PIPESTATUS[@]}

0

$PPID

The $PPID of a process is the process ID (pid) of its parent process. [24]

Compare this with the pidof command.

$PROMPT_COMMAND
A variable holding a command to be executed just before the primary prompt, $PS1 is to be
displayed.
$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 10−29).
$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.

#!/bin/bash

E_WRONG_DIRECTORY=73

clear # Clear screen.

TargetDirectory=/home/bozo/projects/GreatAmericanNovel

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 73

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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
# reply.sh

# REPLY is the default value for a 'read' command.

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
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.

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 74

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#!/bin/bash

TIME_LIMIT=10
INTERVAL=1

echo
echo "Hit Control−C to exit before $TIME_LIMIT seconds."
echo

while [ "$SECONDS" −le "$TIME_LIMIT" ]

do
if [ "$SECONDS" −eq 1 ]
then
units=second
else
units=seconds
fi

echo "This script has been running $SECONDS $units."

# On a slow or overburdened machine, the script may skip a count
#+ every once in a while.
sleep $INTERVAL
done

echo −e "\a" # Beep!

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
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.

As of version 2.05b of Bash, it is now possible to use $TMOUT in a script in combination with read.

# Works in scripts for Bash, versions 2.05b and later.

TMOUT=3 # Prompt times out at three seconds.

echo "What is your favorite song?"

echo "Quickly now, you only have $TMOUT seconds to answer!"
read song

if [ −z "$song" ]
then
song="(no answer)"
# Default response.
fi

echo "Your favorite song is $song."

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
There are other, more complex, ways of implementing timed input in a script. One alternative 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 29−5) the interrupt generated by the timing loop (whew!).

Example 9−2. Timed Input

#!/bin/bash
# timed−input.sh

# TMOUT=3 Also works, as of newer versions of Bash.

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

# 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

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 76

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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
Perhaps the simplest method is using the −t option to read.

Example 9−4. Timed read

#!/bin/bash
# t−out.sh
# Inspired by a suggestion from "syngin seven" (thanks).

TIMELIMIT=4 # 4 seconds

read −t $TIMELIMIT variable <&1

# ^^^
# In this instance, "<&1" is needed for Bash 1.x and 2.x,

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 77

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# but unnecessary for Bash 3.x.

echo

if [ −z "$variable" ] # Is null?
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" ]
then
echo "Rooty, toot, toot. You are root."
else
echo "You are just a regular fella."
fi
See also Example 2−3.

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

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/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 4−5 and Example 11−15)
$#
number of command line arguments [25] or positional parameters (see Example 33−2)
$*
All of the positional parameters, seen as a single word

"$*" must be quoted.

$@
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.

Of course, "$@" should be quoted.

Example 9−6. arglist: Listing arguments with $* and $@

#!/bin/bash
# arglist.sh
# 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 # Initialize count.

echo "Listing args with \"\$*\":"

for arg in "$*" # Doesn't work properly if "$*" isn't quoted.

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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 # Reset count.

# What happens if you forget to do this?

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

index=1 # Reset count.

echo "Listing args with \$* (unquoted):"

for arg in $*
do
echo "Arg #$index = $arg"
let "index+=1"
done # Unquoted $* sees arguments as separate words.
echo "Arg list seen as separate words."

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 12−21 and Example 12−22.

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 they are quoted or not.

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# Inconsistent handling of word splitting and linefeeds.

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 −−−

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

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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
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

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echo

# Try this script with ksh or zsh −y.

exit 0

# This example script by Stephane Chazelas,

# and slightly modified by the document author.

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.

# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

exit 0

Other Special Parameters

$−
Flags passed to script (using set). See Example 11−15.

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

LOG=$0.log

COMMAND1="sleep 100"

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echo "Logging PIDs background commands for script: $0" >> "$LOG"
# So they can be monitored, and killed as necessary.
echo >> "$LOG"

# Logging commands.

echo −n "PID of \"$COMMAND1\": " >> "$LOG"

${COMMAND1} &
echo $! >> "$LOG"
# PID of "sleep 100": 1506

# Thank you, Jacques Lederer, for suggesting this.

possibly_hanging_job & { sleep ${TIMEOUT}; eval 'kill −9 $!' &> /dev/null; }

# Forces completion of an ill−behaved program.
# Useful, for example, in init scripts.

# Thank you, Sylvain Fourmanoit, for this creative use of the "!" variable.
$_
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 23−7)
$$
Process ID of the script itself. The $$ variable often finds use in scripts to construct "unique" temp
file names (see Example A−13, Example 29−6, Example 12−28, and Example 11−26). This is usually
simpler than invoking mktemp.

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

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${#string}
expr length $string
expr "$string" : '.*'

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc

echo ${#stringZ} # 15
echo `expr length $stringZ` # 15
echo `expr "$stringZ" : '.*'` # 15

Example 9−10. Inserting a blank line between paragraphs in a text file

#!/bin/bash
# paragraph−space.sh

# Inserts a blank line between paragraphs of a single−spaced text file.

# Usage: $0 <FILENAME

MINLEN=45 # May need to change this value.

# Assume lines shorter than $MINLEN characters
#+ terminate a paragraph.

while read line # For as many lines as the input file has...
do
echo "$line" # Output the line itself.

len=${#line}
if [ "$len" −lt "$MINLEN" ]
then echo # Add a blank line after short line.
fi
done

exit 0

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.

stringZ=abcABC123ABCabc
echo `expr index "$stringZ" C12` # 6
# C position.

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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, [26] 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.

# Is it possible to index from the right end of the string?

echo ${stringZ:−4} # abcABC123ABCabc

# Defaults to full string, as in ${parameter:−default}.
# However . . .

echo ${stringZ:(−4)} # Cabc

echo ${stringZ: −4} # Cabc
# Now, it works.
# Parentheses or added space "escape" the position parameter.

# Thank you, Dan Jacobson, for pointing this out.

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 $stringZ 4 3` # ABC
expr match "$string" '\($substring\)'

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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}
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.
This operator is useful for generating filenames.

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Example 9−11. 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 (bryanh@giraffe−data.com).
# 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" filename 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

# Exercise:
# −−−−−−−−
# As it stands, this script converts *all* the files in the current
#+ working directory.
# Modify it to work *only* on files with a ".mac" suffix.

Example 9−12. Converting streaming audio files to ogg

#!/bin/bash
# ra2ogg.sh: Convert streaming audio files (*.ra) to ogg.

# Uses the "mplayer" media player program:

# http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage
# Appropriate codecs may need to be installed for this script to work.
# Uses the "ogg" library and "oggenc":
# http://www.xiph.org/

OFILEPREF=${1%%ra} # Strip off the "ra" suffix.

OFILESUFF=wav # Suffix for wav file.
OUTFILE="$OFILEPREF""$OFILESUFF"
E_NOARGS=65

if [ −z "$1" ] # Must specify a filename to convert.

then

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echo "Usage: `basename $0` [filename]"
exit $E_NOARGS
fi

##########################################################################
mplayer "$1" −ao pcm:file=$OUTFILE
oggenc "$OUTFILE" # Correct file extension automatically added by oggenc.
##########################################################################

rm "$OUTFILE" # Delete intermediate *.wav file.

# If you want to keep it, comment out above line.

exit $?

# Note:
# −−−−
# On a Website, simply clicking on a *.ram streaming audio file
#+ usually only downloads the URL of the actual audio file, the *.ra file.
# You can then use "wget" or something similar
#+ to download the *.ra file itself.

# Exercises:
# −−−−−−−−−
# As is, this script converts only *.ra filenames.
# Add flexibility by permitting use of *.ram and other filenames.
#
# If you're really ambitious, expand the script
#+ to do automatic downloads and conversions of streaming audio files.
# Given a URL, batch download streaming audio files (using "wget")
#+ and convert them.
A simple emulation of getopt using substring extraction constructs.

Example 9−13. Emulating getopt

#!/bin/bash
# getopt−simple.sh
# Author: Chris Morgan
# Used in the ABS Guide with permission.

getopt_simple()
{
echo "getopt_simple()"
echo "Parameters are '$*'"
until [ −z "$1" ]
do
echo "Processing parameter of: '$1'"
if [ ${1:0:1} = '/' ]
then
tmp=${1:1} # Strip off leading '/' . . .
parameter=${tmp%%=*} # Extract name.
value=${tmp##*=} # Extract value.
echo "Parameter: '$parameter', value: '$value'"
eval $parameter=$value
fi
shift
done
}

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# Pass all options to getopt_simple().

getopt_simple $*

echo "test is '$test'"

echo "test2 is '$test2'"

exit 0

−−−

sh getopt_example.sh /test=value1 /test2=value2

Parameters are '/test=value1 /test2=value2'

Processing parameter of: '/test=value1'
Parameter: 'test', value: 'value1'
Processing parameter of: '/test2=value2'
Parameter: 'test2', value: 'value2'
test is 'value1'
test2 is 'value2'

Substring Replacement

${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 9−14. Alternate ways of extracting substrings

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#!/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

# 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 12−9
2. Example 9−17
3. Example 9−18
4. Example 9−19
5. Example 9−21

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}, ${parameter:−default}
If parameter not set, use default.

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echo ${username−`whoami`}
# Echoes the result of `whoami`, if variable $username is still unset.

${parameter−default} and ${parameter:−default} are almost

equivalent. The extra : makes a difference only when parameter has been declared, but
is null.

#!/bin/bash
# param−sub.sh

# Whether a variable has been declared

#+ affects triggering of the default option
#+ even if the variable is null.

username0=
echo "username0 has been declared, but is set to null."
echo "username0 = ${username0−`whoami`}"
# Will not echo.

echo

echo username1 has not been declared.

echo "username1 = ${username1−`whoami`}"
# Will echo.

username2=
echo "username2 has been declared, but is set to null."
echo "username2 = ${username2:−`whoami`}"
# ^
# Will echo because of :− rather than just − in condition test.
# Compare to first instance, above.

# Once again:

variable=
# variable has been declared, but is set to null.

echo "${variable−0}" # (no output)

echo "${variable:−1}" # 1
# ^

unset variable

echo "${variable−2}" # 2
echo "${variable:−3}" # 3

exit 0
The default parameter construct finds use in providing "missing" command−line arguments in scripts.

DEFAULT_FILENAME=generic.data
filename=${1:−$DEFAULT_FILENAME}
# If not otherwise specified, the following command block operates
#+ on the file "generic.data".
#
# Commands follow.
See also Example 3−4, Example 28−2, and Example A−6.

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Compare this method with using an and list to supply a default command−line argument.
${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, [27] 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
${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 9−15. Using parameter substitution and error messages

#!/bin/bash

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# Check some of the system's environmental variables.
# This is good preventative maintenance.
# 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.

# : ${variablename?"ERROR MESSAGE"}

# Same result with: dummy_variable=${ZZXy23AB?}

# dummy_variable=${ZZXy23AB?"ZXy23AB has not been set."}
#
# echo ${ZZXy23AB?} >/dev/null

# Compare these methods of checking whether a variable has been set

#+ with "set −u" . . .

echo "You will not see this message, because script already terminated."

HERE=0
exit $HERE # Will NOT exit here.

# In fact, this script will return an exit status (echo $?) of 1.

Example 9−16. Parameter substitution and "usage" messages

#!/bin/bash
# usage−message.sh

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: ${1?"Usage: $0 ARGUMENT"}
# Script exits here if command−line parameter absent,
#+ with following error message.
# usage−message.sh: 1: Usage: usage−message.sh ARGUMENT

echo "These two lines echo only if command−line parameter given."

echo "command line parameter = \"$1\""

exit 0 # Will exit here only if command−line parameter present.

# Check the exit status, both with and without command−line parameter.
# If command−line parameter present, then "$?" is 0.
# If not, then "$?" is 1.
Parameter substitution and/or expansion. The following expressions are the complement to the match in
expr string operations (see Example 12−9). 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 9−17. 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 "Please 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}"
# Now, let's try embedding a space.
var02="abcd EFGH28ij"
echo "var02 = ${var02}"
echo "Length of var02 = ${#var02}"

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−7:

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# Function from "days−between.sh" example.
# Strips leading zero(s) from argument passed.

strip_leading_zero () # Strip possible leading zero(s)

{ #+ from argument passed.
return=${1#0} # The "1" refers to "$1" −− passed arg.
} # The "0" is what to remove from "$1" −− strips zeros.
Manfred Schwarb's more elaborate variation of the above:

strip_leading_zero2 () # Strip possible leading zero(s), since otherwise

{ # Bash will interpret such numbers as octal values.
shopt −s extglob # Turn on extended globbing.
local val=${1##+(0)} # Use local variable, longest matching series of 0's.
shopt −u extglob # Turn off extended globbing.
_strip_leading_zero2=${val:−0}
# If input was 0, return 0 instead of "".
}
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 added additional options.

Example 9−18. Pattern matching in parameter substitution

#!/bin/bash
# patt−matching.sh

# 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

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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# ^^^^^ |−−−−−−−−−−|

echo; echo; echo

pattern2=b*9 # everything between 'b' and '9'

echo "var1 = $var1" # Still abcd12345abc6789
echo
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 (beginning) of string,

# % and %% work from the right end.

echo

exit 0

Example 9−19. Renaming file extensions:

#!/bin/bash
# rfe.sh: Renaming file extensions.
#
# rfe old_extension new_extension
#
# Example:
# To rename all *.gif files in working directory to *.jpg,
# rfe gif jpg

E_BADARGS=65

case $# in
0|1) # The vertical bar means "or" in this context.
echo "Usage: `basename $0` old_file_suffix new_file_suffix"
exit $E_BADARGS # If 0 or 1 arg, then bail out.
;;
esac

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

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}

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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 9−20. 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, Stephane Chazelas, 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"
# 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.)

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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 9−21. Matching patterns at prefix or suffix of string

#!/bin/bash
# var−match.sh:
# Demo of 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" # ABCDEF1234zip1234abc
# |−−−−|

# 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.

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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.

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 the string "three" as an integer.
Certain arithmetic operations are permitted for declared integer variables without the need for expr or
let.

n=6/3
echo "n = $n" # n = 6/3

declare −i n
n=6/3
echo "n = $n" # n = 2
−a array

declare −a indices
The variable indices will be treated as an array.
−f functions

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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

declare −x var3
This declares a variable as available for exporting outside the environment of the script itself.
−x 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 9−22. 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.

Using the declare builtin restricts the scope of a variable.

foo ()
{
FOO="bar"

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bar ()
{
foo
echo $FOO
}

bar # Prints bar.

However . . .

foo (){
declare FOO="bar"
}

bar ()
{
foo
echo $FOO
}

bar # Prints nothing.

# Thank you, Michael Iatrou, for pointing this out.

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 9−23. Indirect References

#!/bin/bash
# ind−ref.sh: Indirect variable referencing.
# Accessing the contents of the contents of a variable.

a=letter_of_alphabet # Variable "a" holds the name of another variable.

letter_of_alphabet=z

echo

# Direct reference.
echo "a = $a" # a = letter_of_alphabet

# Indirect reference.
eval a=\$$a
echo "Now a = $a" # Now a = z

echo

# Now, let's try changing the second−order reference.

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t=table_cell_3
table_cell_3=24
echo "\"table_cell_3\" = $table_cell_3" # "table_cell_3" = 24
echo −n "dereferenced \"t\" = "; eval echo \$$t # dereferenced "t" = 24
# In this simple case, the following also works (why?).
# eval t=\$$t; echo "\"t\" = $t"

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

# (Thanks, Stephane Chazelas, for clearing up the above behavior.)

# Another method is the ${!t} notation, discussed in "Bash, version 2" section.
# See also ex78.sh.

exit 0
Of what practical use is indirect referencing of variables? It gives Bash a little of the functionality of pointers
in C, for instance, in table lookup. And, it also has some other very interesting applications. . . .

Nils Radtke shows how to build "dynamic" variable names and evaluate their contents. This can be useful
when sourcing configuration files.

#!/bin/bash

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# This could be "sourced" from a separate file.
isdnMyProviderRemoteNet=172.16.0.100
isdnYourProviderRemoteNet=10.0.0.10
isdnOnlineService="MyProvider"
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

remoteNet=$(eval "echo \$$(echo isdn${isdnOnlineService}RemoteNet)")

remoteNet=$(eval "echo \$$(echo isdnMyProviderRemoteNet)")
remoteNet=$(eval "echo \$isdnMyProviderRemoteNet")
remoteNet=$(eval "echo $isdnMyProviderRemoteNet")

echo "$remoteNet" # 172.16.0.100

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

# And, it gets even better.

# Consider the following snippet given a variable named getSparc,

#+ but no such variable getIa64:

chkMirrorArchs () {
arch="$1";

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if [ "$(eval "echo \${$(echo get$(echo −ne $arch |
sed 's/^\(.\).*/\1/g' | tr 'a−z' 'A−Z'; echo $arch |
sed 's/^.\(.*\)/\1/g')):−false}")" = true ]
then
return 0;
else
return 1;
fi;
}

getSparc="true"
unset getIa64
chkMirrorArchs sparc
echo $? # 0
# True

chkMirrorArchs Ia64
echo $? # 1
# False

# Notes:
# −−−−−
# Even the to−be−substituted variable name part is built explicitly.
# The parameters to the chkMirrorArchs calls are all lower case.
# The variable name is composed of two parts: "get" and "Sparc" . . .

Example 9−24. 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 one 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
}

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" "$filename"
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# End awk script.

# Indirect variable reference avoids the hassles

#+ of referencing a shell variable within the embedded awk script.
# Thanks, Stephane Chazelas.

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 34−2) makes indirect
referencing more intuitive.

Bash does not support pointer arithmetic, and this severely limits the usefulness of indirect referencing. In
fact, indirect referencing in a scripting language is an ugly kludge.

9.6. $RANDOM: generate random integer

$RANDOM is an internal Bash function (not a constant) that returns a pseudorandom [28] integer in the range 0
− 32767. It should not be used to generate an encryption key.

Example 9−25. 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"

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# ^^
echo "Random number less than $RANGE −−− $number"

echo

# If you need a random integer 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
echo "Random number greater than $FLOOR −−− $number"
echo

# Let's examine a simple alternative to the above loop, namely

# let "number = $RANDOM + $FLOOR"
# That would eliminate the while−loop and run faster.
# But, there might be a problem with that. What is it?

# 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
T=1
number=$RANDOM

let "number %= $BINARY"

# Note that 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

# Generate a toss of the dice.

SPOTS=6 # Modulo 6 gives range 0 − 5.
# Incrementing by 1 gives desired range of 1 − 6.
# Thanks, Paulo Marcel Coelho Aragao, for the simplification.
die1=0

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die2=0
# Would it be better to just set SPOTS=7 and not add 1? Why or why not?

# Tosses each die separately, and so gives correct odds.

let "die1 = $RANDOM % $SPOTS +1" # Roll first one.

let "die2 = $RANDOM % $SPOTS +1" # Roll second one.
# Which arithmetic operation, above, has greater precedence −−
#+ modulo (%) or addition (+)?

let "throw = $die1 + $die2"

echo "Throw of the dice = $throw"
echo

exit 0

Example 9−26. Picking a random card from a deck

#!/bin/bash
# pick−card.sh

# This is an example of choosing random elements of an array.

# Pick a card, any card.

Suites="Clubs
Diamonds
Hearts
Spades"

Denominations="2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Jack
Queen
King
Ace"

# Note variables spread over multiple lines.

suite=($Suites) # Read into array variable.

denomination=($Denominations)

num_suites=${#suite[*]} # Count how many elements.

num_denominations=${#denomination[*]}

echo −n "${denomination[$((RANDOM%num_denominations))]} of "

echo ${suite[$((RANDOM%num_suites))]}

# $bozo sh pick−cards.sh

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# Jack of Clubs

# Thank you, "jipe," for pointing out this use of $RANDOM.

exit 0
Jipe points out a set of techniques for generating random numbers within a range.

# Generate random number between 6 and 30.

rnumber=$((RANDOM%25+6))

# Generate random number in the same 6 − 30 range,

#+ but the number must be evenly divisible by 3.
rnumber=$(((RANDOM%30/3+1)*3))

# Note that this will not work all the time.

# It fails if $RANDOM returns 0.

# Frank Wang suggests the following alternative:

rnumber=$(( RANDOM%27/3*3+6 ))
Bill Gradwohl came up with an improved formula that works for positive numbers.

rnumber=$(((RANDOM%(max−min+divisibleBy))/divisibleBy*divisibleBy+min))
Here Bill presents a versatile function that returns a random number between two specified values.

Example 9−27. Random between values

#!/bin/bash
# random−between.sh
# Random number between two specified values.
# Script by Bill Gradwohl, with minor modifications by the document author.
# Used with permission.

randomBetween() {
# Generates a positive or negative random number
#+ between $min and $max
#+ and divisible by $divisibleBy.
# Gives a "reasonably random" distribution of return values.
#
# Bill Gradwohl − Oct 1, 2003

syntax() {
# Function embedded within function.
echo
echo "Syntax: randomBetween [min] [max] [multiple]"
echo
echo "Expects up to 3 passed parameters, but all are completely optional."
echo "min is the minimum value"
echo "max is the maximum value"
echo "multiple specifies that the answer must be a multiple of this value."
echo " i.e. answer must be evenly divisible by this number."
echo
echo "If any value is missing, defaults area supplied as: 0 32767 1"
echo "Successful completion returns 0, unsuccessful completion returns"
echo "function syntax and 1."
echo "The answer is returned in the global variable randomBetweenAnswer"
echo "Negative values for any passed parameter are handled correctly."
}

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local min=${1:−0}
local max=${2:−32767}
local divisibleBy=${3:−1}
# Default values assigned, in case parameters not passed to function.

local x
local spread

# Let's make sure the divisibleBy value is positive.

[ ${divisibleBy} −lt 0 ] && divisibleBy=$((0−divisibleBy))

# Sanity check.
if [ $# −gt 3 −o ${divisibleBy} −eq 0 −o ${min} −eq ${max} ]; then
syntax
return 1
fi

# See if the min and max are reversed.

if [ ${min} −gt ${max} ]; then
# Swap them.
x=${min}
min=${max}
max=${x}
fi

# If min is itself not evenly divisible by $divisibleBy,

#+ then fix the min to be within range.
if [ $((min/divisibleBy*divisibleBy)) −ne ${min} ]; then
if [ ${min} −lt 0 ]; then
min=$((min/divisibleBy*divisibleBy))
else
min=$((((min/divisibleBy)+1)*divisibleBy))
fi
fi

# If max is itself not evenly divisible by $divisibleBy,

#+ then fix the max to be within range.
if [ $((max/divisibleBy*divisibleBy)) −ne ${max} ]; then
if [ ${max} −lt 0 ]; then
max=$((((max/divisibleBy)−1)*divisibleBy))
else
max=$((max/divisibleBy*divisibleBy))
fi
fi

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# Now, to do the real work.

# Note that to get a proper distribution for the end points,

#+ the range of random values has to be allowed to go between
#+ 0 and abs(max−min)+divisibleBy, not just abs(max−min)+1.

# The slight increase will produce the proper distribution for the
#+ end points.

# Changing the formula to use abs(max−min)+1 will still produce

#+ correct answers, but the randomness of those answers is faulty in
#+ that the number of times the end points ($min and $max) are returned
#+ is considerably lower than when the correct formula is used.
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 109

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
spread=$((max−min))
[ ${spread} −lt 0 ] && spread=$((0−spread))
let spread+=divisibleBy
randomBetweenAnswer=$(((RANDOM%spread)/divisibleBy*divisibleBy+min))

return 0

# However, Paulo Marcel Coelho Aragao points out that

#+ when $max and $min are not divisible by $divisibleBy,
#+ the formula fails.
#
# He suggests instead the following formula:
# rnumber = $(((RANDOM%(max−min+1)+min)/divisibleBy*divisibleBy))

# Let's test the function.

min=−14
max=20
divisibleBy=3

# Generate an array of expected answers and check to make sure we get

#+ at least one of each answer if we loop long enough.

declare −a answer
minimum=${min}
maximum=${max}
if [ $((minimum/divisibleBy*divisibleBy)) −ne ${minimum} ]; then
if [ ${minimum} −lt 0 ]; then
minimum=$((minimum/divisibleBy*divisibleBy))
else
minimum=$((((minimum/divisibleBy)+1)*divisibleBy))
fi
fi

# If max is itself not evenly divisible by $divisibleBy,

#+ then fix the max to be within range.

if [ $((maximum/divisibleBy*divisibleBy)) −ne ${maximum} ]; then

if [ ${maximum} −lt 0 ]; then
maximum=$((((maximum/divisibleBy)−1)*divisibleBy))
else
maximum=$((maximum/divisibleBy*divisibleBy))
fi
fi

# We need to generate only positive array subscripts,

#+ so we need a displacement that that will guarantee
#+ positive results.

displacement=$((0−minimum))
for ((i=${minimum}; i<=${maximum}; i+=divisibleBy)); do
answer[i+displacement]=0
done

# Now loop a large number of times to see what we get.

loopIt=1000 # The script author suggests 100000,
#+ but that takes a good long while.

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 110

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

for ((i=0; i<${loopIt}; ++i)); do

# Note that we are specifying min and max in reversed order here to
#+ make the function correct for this case.

randomBetween ${max} ${min} ${divisibleBy}

# Report an error if an answer is unexpected.

[ ${randomBetweenAnswer} −lt ${min} −o ${randomBetweenAnswer} −gt ${max} ] && echo MIN or MAX
[ $((randomBetweenAnswer%${divisibleBy})) −ne 0 ] && echo DIVISIBLE BY error − ${randomBetween

# Store the answer away statistically.

answer[randomBetweenAnswer+displacement]=$((answer[randomBetweenAnswer+displacement]+1))
done

# Let's check the results

for ((i=${minimum}; i<=${maximum}; i+=divisibleBy)); do

[ ${answer[i+displacement]} −eq 0 ] && echo "We never got an answer of $i." || echo "${i} occu
done

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 9−28. Rolling a single 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.

ones=0 # Must initialize counts to zero,

twos=0 #+ since an uninitialized variable is null, not zero.
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
}

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 111

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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" ]

do
let "die1 = RANDOM % $PIPS"
update_count $die1
let "throw += 1"
done

print_result

exit 0

# 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.

# Randomness is a deep and complex subject.

# Sufficiently long "random" sequences may exhibit
#+ chaotic and other "non−random" behavior.

# Exercise (easy):
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# Rewrite this script to flip a coin 1000 times.
# Choices are "HEADS" and "TAILS".
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. [29] (This mirrors the behavior of the
random() function in C.)

Example 9−29. 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"

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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?

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 method 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 and
Example 12−13), or using dd (see Example 12−55), or even piping to md5sum (see Example 33−14).

There are also other ways to generate pseudorandom numbers in a script. Awk provides a convenient
means of doing this.

Example 9−30. 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.

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

echo −n "Random number between 0 and 1 = "

echo | awk "$AWKSCRIPT"

# What happens if you leave out the 'echo'?

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
#+ 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.
The date command also lends itself to generating pseudorandom integer sequences.

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 9−31. 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

########################################################
# Note that, as in C, pre− and post−decrement operators

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 114

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
#+ have slightly different side−effects.

n=1; let −−n && echo "True" || echo "False" # False

n=1; let n−− && echo "True" || echo "False" # True

# Thanks, Jeroen Domburg.

########################################################

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.

# 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.

Chapter 9. Variables Revisited 115

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches
Operations on code blocks are the key to structured and organized shell scripts. Looping and branching
constructs provide the tools for accomplishing this.

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 arg in [list]

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 successive 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

#!/bin/bash
# Listing the planets.

for planet in Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
do
echo $planet # Each planet on a separate line.
done

echo

for planet in "Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto"

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches 116

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# All planets on same line.
# Entire 'list' enclosed in quotes creates a single variable.
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
11−15) 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

#!/bin/bash
# fileinfo.sh

FILES="/usr/sbin/accept
/usr/sbin/pwck
/usr/sbin/chroot
/usr/bin/fakefile
/sbin/badblocks
/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.

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches 117

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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.
# Note that the whatis database needs to have been set up for this to work.
# To do this, as root run /usr/bin/makewhatis.
echo
done

exit 0
If the [list] in a for loop contains wildcards (* and ?) used in filename expansion, then globbing
takes place.

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 *
# ^ Bash performs filename expansion
#+ on expressions that globbing recognizes.
do
ls −l "$file" # Lists all files in $PWD (current directory).
# Recall that the wild card character "*" matches every filename,
#+ 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

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 positional
parameters. A particularly clever illustration of this is Example A−16. See also Example 11−16.

Example 10−5. Missing in [list] in a for loop

#!/bin/bash

# Invoke this script both with and without arguments,

#+ and see what happens.

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches 118

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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
12−49, Example 10−10 and Example 12−43.

Example 10−6. Generating the [list] in a for loop with command substitution

#!/bin/bash
# for−loopcmd.sh: 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
Here 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` search_string filename"
exit $E_BADARGS
fi

if [ ! −f "$2" ]
then
echo "File \"$2\" does not exist."
exit $E_NOFILE
fi

IFS=$'\012' # Per suggestion of Anton Filippov.

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches 119

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
# was: IFS="\n"
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, lines 23 − 30 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

#!/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

# Exercise:
# −−−−−−−−
# How is it that an ordinary user (or a script run by same)
#+ can read /etc/passwd?
# Isn't this a security hole? Why or why not?
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/

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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.
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.

directory=${1−`pwd`}
# Defaults to current working directory,
#+ if not otherwise specified.
# Equivalent to code block below.
# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
# 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.
# Strictly speaking, a loop isn't really necessary here,
#+ since the output of the "find" command is expanded into a single word.
# However, it's easy to understand and illustrative this way.

# As Dominik 'Aeneas' Schnitzer points out,

#+ failing to quote $( find $directory −type l )
#+ will choke on filenames with embedded whitespace.
# Even this will only pick up the first field of each argument.

exit 0

# Jean Helou proposes the following alternative:

Chapter 10. Loops and Branches 121

 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
echo "symbolic links in directory \"$directory\""
# Backup of the current IFS. One can never be too cautious.
OLDIFS=$IFS
IFS=:

for file in $(find $directory −type l −printf "%p$IFS")

do # ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
echo "$file"
done|sort
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.

OUTFILE=symlinks.list # save file

directory=${1−`pwd`}
# Defaults to current working directory,
#+ if not otherwise specified.

echo "symbolic links in directory \"$directory\"" > "$OUTFILE"

echo "−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−" >> "$OUTFILE"

for file in "$( find $directory −type l )" # −type l = symbolic links
do
echo "$file"
done | sort >> "$OUTFILE" # stdout of loop
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 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

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

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 26−15, Example 26−16, and Example A−6.

−−−

Now, a for loop used in a "real−life" context.

Example 10−13. Using efax in batch mode

#!/bin/bash
# Faxing (must have 'fax' installed).

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.

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide

# 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 loops, placing the do on the same line as the condition test requires a
semicolon.

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.
# ^ Space, to separate printed out numbers.

var0=`expr $var0 + 1` # var0=$(($var0+1)) also works.

# var0=$((var0 + 1)) also works.
# let "var0 += 1" also works.
done # Various other methods also work.

echo

exit 0

Example 10−15. Another while loop

#!/bin/bash

echo
# Equivalent to:
while [ "$var1" != "end" ] # while test "$var1" != "end"
do
echo "Input variable #1 (end to exit) "
read var1 # Not 'read $var1' (why?).

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 Advanced Bash−Scripting Guide
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

#!/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 9−31).

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

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# 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"
# 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.

A while loop may have its stdin supplied by a pipe.

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 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

END_CONDITION=end

until [ "$var1" = "$END_CONDITION" ]

# Tests condition here, at top of loop.
do
echo "Input variable #1 "
echo "($END_CONDITION to exit)"
read var1
echo "variable #1 = $var1"
echo
done

exit 0

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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. How this works 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 would interrupt this process.

Example 10−19. Nested Loop

#!/bin/bash
# nested−loop.sh: 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 blocks in pass of outer loop.
done
# End of outer loop.

exit 0
See Example 26−11 for an illustration of nested while loops, and Example 26−13 to see a while loop nested
inside an until loop.

10.3. Loop Control

Commands Affecting Loop Behavior

break, continue
The break and continue loop control commands [30] 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 (repetition) of the loop, skipping all the remaining commands in
that particular loop cycle.

Example 10−20. Effects of break and continue in a loop

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#!/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 " # This will not execute for 3 and 11.
done

# Exercise:
# Why does loop print up to 20?

echo; echo

echo Printing Numbers 1 through 20, but something happens after 2.

##################################################################

# 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.

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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

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 " # 7 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

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Example 10−23. Using "continue N" in an actual task

# Albert Reiner gives an example of how to use "continue N":

# −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

# Suppose I have a large number of jobs that need to be run, with

#+ any data that is to be treated in files of a given name pattern in a
#+ directory. There are several machines that access this directory, and
#+ I want to distribute the work over these different boxen. Then I
#+ usually nohup something like the following on every box:

while true
do
for n in .iso.*
do
[ "$n" = ".iso.opts" ] && continue
beta=${n#.iso.}
[ −r .Iso.$beta ] && continue
[ −r .lock.$beta ] && sleep 10 && continue
lockfile −r0 .lock.$beta || continue
echo −n "$beta: " `date`
run−isotherm $beta
date
ls −alF .Iso.$beta
[ −r .Iso.$beta ] && rm −f .lock.$beta
continue 2
done
break
done

# The details, in particular the sleep N, are particular to my

#+ application, but the general pattern is:

while true
do
for job in {pattern}
do
{job already done or running} && continue
{mark job as running, do job, mark job as done}
continue 2
done
break # Or something like `sleep 600' to avoid termination.
done

# This way the script will stop only when there are no more jobs to do
#+ (including jobs that were added