Shell Script – Introduction to shell script
Shell Script – Introduction to shell script
Basically, a shell script is a text file with Unix commands in it.
Shell scripts usually begin with a #! and a shell name
- – For example: #!/bin/sh
- – If they do not, the user’s current shell will be used
Any Unix command can go in a shell script
- – Commands are executed in order or in the flow determined by control statements.
Different shells have different control structures
- – The #! line is very important
- – We will write shell scripts with the Bourne shell (sh)
Why write shell scripts?
- – To avoid repetition:
If you do a sequence of steps with standard Unix commands over and over, why not do it all with just one command?
- – To automate difficult tasks:
Many commands have subtle and difficult options that you don’t want to figure out or remember every time.
Assigning Command Output to a Variable
- Using backquotes, we can assign the output of a command to a variable:
#!/bin/sh
files=`ls`
echo $files
- Very useful in numerical computation:
#!/bin/sh
value=`expr 12345 + 54321`
echo $value
Using expr for Calculations
- Variables as arguments:
% count=5
% count=`expr $count + 1`
% echo $count
6
– Variables are replaced with their values by the shell!
- expr supports the following operators:
– arithmetic operators: +,-,*,/,%
– comparison operators: <, <=, ==, !=, >=, >
– boolean/logical operators: &, |
– parentheses: (, )
– precedence is the same as C, Java