Unix bash dynamically add function using variable in its name - bash

Is it possible to define a function but use a variable to compose its name?
_internal_add_deployment_aliases(){
environment=$1
instanceNumber=$2
shortName=$3
instance="${environment}${instanceNumber}"
ipVar="_ip_$instance"
ip=${!ipVar}
# lots of useful aliases
_full_build_${instance}(){ # how do i dynamically define a function using a variable in its name
#something useful
}
}
Context: I'd like to add bunch of aliases and convenience functions to work with my cloud instances, defining aliases is not a problem, I can easily do
alias _ssh_into_${instance}="ssh -i \"${KEY}\" root#$ip"
and I want to have specific aliases defined when I source from this...
Now when i want to do the same for functions i have a problem, is it possible to do this?
Any help is very very much appreciated :)

You need to use eval for such a problem:
$ var=tmp
$ eval "function echo_${var} {
echo 'tmp'
}"
$ echo_tmp
tmp
An example of your script:
#! /bin/bash
_internal_add_deployment_aliases(){
environment=$1
instanceNumber=$2
shortName=$3
instance="${environment}${instanceNumber}"
ipVar="_ip_$instance"
ip=${!ipVar}
# lots of useful aliases
eval "_full_build_${instance}(){
echo _full_build_${instance}
}"
}
_internal_add_deployment_aliases "stackoverflow" 3 so
_full_build_stackoverflow3 # Will echo _full_build_stackoverflow3
exit 0

Related

how to call a bash function providing environment variables stored in a Bash array?

I got two variables in a bash script. One contains the name of a function within the script while the other one is an array containing KEY=VALUE or KEY='VALUE WITH SPACES' pairs. They are the result of parsing a specific file, and I can't change this.
What I want to do is to invoke the function whose name I got. This is quite simple:
# get the value for the function
myfunc="some_function"
# invoke the function whose name is stored in $myfunc
$myfunc
Consider the function foo be defined as
function foo
{
echo "MYVAR: $MYVAR"
echo "MYVAR2: $MYVAR2"
}
If I get the variables
funcname="foo"
declare -a funcenv=(MYVAR=test "MYVAR2='test2 test3'")
How would I use them to call foo with the pairs of funcenv being added to the environment? A (non-variable) invocation would look like
MYVAR=test MYVAR2='tes2 test3' foo
I tried to script it like
"${funcenv[#]}" "$funcname"
But this leads to an error (MYVAR=test: command not found).
How do I properly call the function with the arguments of the array put in its environment (I do not want to export them, they should just be available for the invoked function)?
You can do like this:
declare -a funcenv=(MYVAR=test "MYVAR2='test2 test3'")
for pairs in "${funcenv[#]}"; do
eval "$pairs"
done
"$funcname"
Note however that the variables will be visible outside the function too.
If you want to avoid that, then you can wrap all the above in a (...) subshell.
why don't you pass them as arguments to your function?
function f() { echo "first: $1"; echo "second: $2"; }
fn=f; $fn oneword "two words"

Are there any existing methods for importing functions from other scripts without sourcing the entire script?

I am working on a large shell program and need a way to import functions from other scripts as required without polluting the global scope with all the internal functions from that script.
UPDATE: However, those imported functions have internal dependancies. So the imported function must be executed in the context of its script.
I came up with this solution and wonder if there is any existing strategy out there and if not, perhaps this is a really bad idea?
PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE POSTED SOLUTION BEFORE RESPONDING
example usage of my solution:
main.sh
import user get_name
import user set_name
echo "hello $(get_name)"
echo "Enter a new user name :"
while true; do
read user_input < /dev/tty
done
set_name $user_input
user.sh
import state
set_name () {
state save "user_name" "$1"
}
get_name () {
state get_value "user_name"
}
As one approach, you could put a comment in the script to indicate where you want to stop sourcing:
$ cat script
fn() { echo "You are running fn"; }
#STOP HERE
export var="Unwanted name space pollution"
And then, if you are using bash, source it like this:
source <(sed '/#STOP HERE/q' script)
<(...) is process substitution and our process, sed '/#STOP HERE/q' script just extracts the lines from script until the stop line is reached.
Adding more precise control
We can select particular sections from a file if we add both start and stop flags:
$ cat script
export var1="Unwanted name space pollution"
#START
fn1() { echo "You are running fn1"; }
#STOP
export var2="More unwanted name space pollution"
#START
fn2() { echo "You are running fn2"; }
#STOP
export var3="More unwanted name space pollution"
And then source the file like this:
source <(sed -n '/#START/,/#STOP/p' script)
create standalone shel script that do this
will have 2 argument the file name and the function name
it will source the input file first
it will then use declare -f function name
in your code you can include functions like this
eval "./importfunctions.sh filename functionaname"
what is happening here :
step 1 basically read the file and source it in new shell environment . then it will echo the function declaration
step 2 will eval that function into our main code
So final result is as if we wrote just that function in our main script
When the functions in the script indent untill the closing } and all start with the keyword function, you can include specific functions without changing the original files:
largeshell.sh
#!/bin/bash
function demo1 {
echo "d1"
}
function demo2 {
echo "d2"
}
function demo3 {
echo "d3"
}
function demo4 {
echo "d4"
}
echo "Main code of largeshell... "
demo2
Now show how to source demo1() and forget demo4():
source <(sed -n '/^function demo1 /,/^}/p' largeshell.sh)
source <(sed -n '/^function demo3 /,/^}/p' largeshell.sh)
demo1
demo4
Or source all functions in a loop:
for f in demo1 demo3; do
echo sourcing $f
source <(sed -n '/^function '$f' /,/^}/p' largeshell.sh)
done
demo1
demo4
You can make it more fancy when you source a special script that will:
grep all strings starting with largeshell., like largefile.demo1
generate functions like largefile.demo1 that will call demo1
and source all functions that are called.
Your new script will look like
source function_includer.sh
largeshell.demo1
largeshell.demo4
EDIT:
You might want to reconsider your requirements.
Above solution is not only slow, but it will also make it hard for the
guys and ladies who made tha largeshell.sh. As soon as they are going to refactor their code or replace it with something in another language,
they have to refactor, test and deploy your code as well.
A better path is extracting the functions from largeshell.sh into some smaller files ("modules"), and put them in a shared directory (shlib?).
With names as sqlutil.sh, datetime.sh, formatting.sh, mailstuff.sh and comm.sh you can pick the includes file you need (and largefile.sh will include them all).
It's been a while and it would appear that my original solution is the best one out there. Thanks for the feedback.

Passing shell script parameters from one script to other

I have two shell scripts say 1.ksh & 2.ksh
1.ksh contains functions which has variables in it.
e.g.
func1() {
test=$DIRPATH/$FILENAME/$SCRIPTNAME
}
2.ksh contains
DIRPATH="/ABC/DEF/GHI" .... {PATH}
FILENAME="ABC.txt"
I want to invoke 1.ksh inside 2.ksh & pass these parameters to respective functions.
Also, I want to run both the script in a single instance.
How can I achieve this?
You might be looking for . dot command
The . fileNmae can be used to export all varibles function onto the bash script involving the statements
To use the function func1 from 2.ksh use
``2.ksh` script edited as
#2.ksh contains
. ./1.ksh #full path must be something like /home/....
DIRPATH="/ABC/DEF/GHI" .... {PATH}
FILENAME="ABC.txt"
func1 #calls the function within the second, 2.ksh
For example consider the following
$ cat one
func1() {
echo "hello $1"
}
$ cat two
. ./one
func1 world
$ ksh two
hello world

Create variable from string/nameonly parameter to extract data in bash?

I want to save the variable name and its contents easily from my script.
Currently :-
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
TEST=/file/path
echo "TEST : ${TEST}" >> ${LOGFILE}
Desired :-
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
function save()
{
echo "$1 : $1" >> ${LOGFILE}
}
TEST=/file/path
save TEST
Obviously the above save function just saves TEST : TEST
Want I want it to save is TEST : /file/path
Can this be done? How? Many thanks in advance!
You want to use Variable Indirection. Also, don't use the function keyword, it is not POSIX and also not necessary as long as you have () at the end of your function name.
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
save()
{
echo "$1 : ${!1}" >> ${LOGFILE}
}
TEST=/file/path
save TEST
Proof of Concept
$ TEST=foo; save(){ echo "$1 : ${!1}"; }; save TEST
TEST : foo
Yes, using indirect expansion:
echo "$1 : ${!1}"
Quoting from Bash reference manual:
The basic form of parameter expansion is ${parameter} [...] If the first character of parameter is an exclamation point (!), a level of variable indirection is introduced. Bash uses the value of the variable formed from the rest of parameter as the name of the variable; this variable is then expanded and that value is used in the rest of the substitution, rather than the value of parameter itself. This is known as indirect expansion
Consider using the printenv function. It does exactly what it says on the tin, prints your environment. It can also take parameters
$ printenv
SSH_AGENT_PID=2068
TERM=xterm
SHELL=/bin/bash
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth
...etc
You could do printenv and then grep for any vars you know you have defined and be done in two lines, such as:
$printenv | grep "VARNAME1\|VARNAME2"
VARNAME1=foo
VARNAME2=bar

Passing argument to alias in bash [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Make a Bash alias that takes a parameter?
(24 answers)
Closed 5 years ago.
Is it possible to do the following:
I want to run the following:
mongodb bin/mongod
In my bash_profile I have
alias = "./path/to/mongodb/$1"
An alias will expand to the string it represents. Anything after the alias will appear after its expansion without needing to be or able to be passed as explicit arguments (e.g. $1).
$ alias foo='/path/to/bar'
$ foo some args
will get expanded to
$ /path/to/bar some args
If you want to use explicit arguments, you'll need to use a function
$ foo () { /path/to/bar "$#" fixed args; }
$ foo abc 123
will be executed as if you had done
$ /path/to/bar abc 123 fixed args
To undefine an alias:
unalias foo
To undefine a function:
unset -f foo
To see the type and definition (for each defined alias, keyword, function, builtin or executable file):
type -a foo
Or type only (for the highest precedence occurrence):
type -t foo
to use parameters in aliases, i use this method:
alias myalias='function __myalias() { echo "Hello $*"; unset -f __myalias; }; __myalias'
its a self-destructive function wrapped in an alias, so it pretty much is the best of both worlds, and doesnt take up an extra line(s) in your definitions... which i hate, oh yeah and if you need that return value, you'll have to store it before calling unset, and then return the value using the "return" keyword in that self destructive function there:
alias myalias='function __myalias() { echo "Hello $*"; myresult=$?; unset -f __myalias; return $myresult; }; __myalias'
so..
you could, if you need to have that variable in there
alias mongodb='function __mongodb() { ./path/to/mongodb/$1; unset -f __mongodb; }; __mongodb'
of course...
alias mongodb='./path/to/mongodb/'
would actually do the same thing without the need for parameters, but like i said, if you wanted or needed them for some reason (for example, you needed $2 instead of $1), you would need to use a wrapper like that. If it is bigger than one line you might consider just writing a function outright since it would become more of an eyesore as it grew larger. Functions are great since you get all the perks that functions give (see completion, traps, bind, etc for the goodies that functions can provide, in the bash manpage).
I hope that helps you out :)
Usually when I want to pass arguments to an alias in Bash, I use a combination of an alias and a function like this, for instance:
function __t2d {
if [ "$1x" != 'x' ]; then
date -d "#$1"
fi
}
alias t2d='__t2d'
This is the solution which can avoid using function:
alias addone='{ num=$(cat -); echo "input: $num"; echo "result:$(($num+1))"; }<<<'
test result
addone 200
input: 200
result:201
In csh (as opposed to bash) you can do exactly what you want.
alias print 'lpr \!^ -Pps5'
print memo.txt
The notation \!^ causes the argument to be inserted in the command at this point.
The ! character is preceeded by a \ to prevent it being interpreted as a history command.
You can also pass multiple arguments:
alias print 'lpr \!* -Pps5'
print part1.ps glossary.ps figure.ps
(Examples taken from http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/shell/alias_csh2.1.html .)
To simplify leed25d's answer, use a combination of an alias and a function. For example:
function __GetIt {
cp ./path/to/stuff/$* .
}
alias GetIt='__GetIt'

Resources