How to detect if an argument was passed to the script? - bash

I am a novice at shell scripting. I have written a script that takes zero or more options and an optional path parameter. I want to use the current directory if a path parameter is not set.
This is the argument parsing section of the script:
OPTIONS=$(getopt -o dhlv -l drop-databases,help,learner-portal,verifier-portal -- "$#")
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "getopt error"
exit 1
fi
eval set -- $OPTIONS
while true; do
case "$1" in
-d|--drop-databases) RESETDB=1
;;
-h|--help) echo "$usage"
exit
;;
-l|--learner-portal) LERPOR=1
;;
-v|--verifier-portal) VERPOR=1
;;
--) shift
break;;
*) echo -e "\e[31munknown option: $1\e[0m"
echo "$usage"
exit 1
;;
esac
shift
done
# Set directory of module
if [[ -n $BASH_ARGV ]]
then
MOD_DIR=$(readlink -f $BASH_ARGV)
fi
if [[ -n $MOD_DIR ]]
then
cd $MOD_DIR
fi
The script works as intended when called without and arguments, or when called with both options and a path.
However, when I run the script and only specify options, I get an error from readlink like so
$ rebuild_module -dv
readlink: invalid option -- 'd'
Try 'readlink --help' for more information.
Obviously, it's parsing the options wrong, but I'm not sure how to detect that I haven't passed a path, and therefore avoid calling readlink. How can I go about correcting this behaviour?

You can do [ $# -ne 0 ] instead of [[ -n $BASH_ARGV ]]. The former is affected by shift/set, but the latter isn't:
$ cat test.sh
echo "$#"
echo "${BASH_ARGV[#]}"
echo "$#"
eval set -- foo bar
shift
echo "$#"
echo "${BASH_ARGV[#]}"
echo "$#"
$ bash test.sh x y z
3
z y x
x y z
1
z y x
bar

Related

Shell getopt first parameter error

Running the following code, I find host_ip is empty, I don't know what the reason is?
TEMP=`getopt --long hostip:,hostport: -n 'javawrap' -- "$#"`
if [ $? != 0 ] ; then echo "Terminating..." >&2 ; exit 1 ; fi
eval set -- "$TEMP"
host_ip=
host_port=
while true; do
case "$1" in
--hostip ) host_ip="$2"; shift 2;;
--hostport ) host_port="$2"; shift 2 ;;
* ) break ;;
esac
done
echo $host_ip
echo $host_port
It seems you need to specify the short options to getopt otherwise it (IMO) messes up the parsing. From man getopt:
If this option is not found, the first parameter of getopt that does not start with a '-' (and is not an option argument) is used as the short options string.
This works:
$ getopt --options '' --longoptions hostip:,hostport: -n 'javawrap' -- --hostip foo --hostport bar
--hostip 'foo' --hostport 'bar' --

Bash script to test for only presence of flag

I have a bash script that I need to take in a user name with a flag, and then I want to be able to look for -r or -w to indicate whether this should be a read or write.
Currently I am using get opts, but this requires that an actual argument be passed to -r and -w.
How do I test if just -r or -w is there without passing something to those flags.
Currently my script looks like this:
#!/bin/bash
while getopts :u:r:w: opt; do
case $opt in
u ) user="$OPTARG" ;;
r ) my_read=1 ;;
w ) my_write=1 ;;
\? ) echo "${0##*/}" [ -erw ]; exit 1 ;;
esac
done
if [[ ${my_write} -eq 1 ]] ; then
echo "write"
fi
if [[ ${my_read} -eq 1 ]] ; then
echo "read"
fi
As noted in the comments, a colon (:) indicates the preceding option character requires an argument. Just remove the colons:
#!/bin/bash
while getopts u:rw opt; do
case $opt in
u ) user="$OPTARG" ;;
r ) my_read=1 ;;
w ) my_write=1 ;;
\? ) echo "${0##*/} [ -erw ]" >&2; exit 1 ;;
esac
done
shift $((OPTIND-1))
if [[ "${my_write}" -eq 1 ]] ; then
echo "write"
fi
if [[ "${my_read}" -eq 1 ]] ; then
echo "read"
fi
Other changes made: quotes on final case moved to include square brackets, output to standard error (>&2) to avoid getting piped inappropriately, the shift line was added so your argument list ($# and $1, etc) have the getopts-parsed options removed, and quotes were placed around tests because otherwise the shell can complain about being passed empty tests (it'll see [[ -eq 1]] if either variable is undefined, which will happen if either -r or -w is not passed, and that is invalid while [[ "" -eq 1 ]] will simply evaluate as false).
Just get them as parameters not options:
while [ -n "$1" ]; do
case "$1" in
-r) echo "read";;
-w) echo "write";;
esac
shift
done

Why do I have error with multi long options using getopt in bash?

I just wrote a script in bash, which work expect for multi long option:
#!/bin/bash
OPTS=`getopt -q -o fdhl: -l free,df,help,log: -- "$*"`
#Check if error with getopt
if [ $? != 0 ]
then
echo -e "error: parameter could not be found\n\nUsage:\n supervision [options]\n\n Try 'supervision --help'\n or 'supervision -h'\n for additional help text." ;
exit 1
fi
eval set -- "$OPTS"
while true ; do
case "$1" in
-f|--free)
free -h ;
shift;;
-d|--df)
df -h ; #Run df system command
shift;;
-l|--log)
case "$2" in
"") echo "miss file" ;
shift 2;; #No file passed as parameter
*)
df -h >> "$2" ;
shift 2;;
esac ;;
-h|--help) #Display help
shift;;
--) #End of parsed parameters list
shift ; break ;;
*)
break ;;
esac
done
I don't get why i'm supposed to, when I use more than 1 long option, for example:
sh myscript --free --df
And when I use --log:
sh myscript --log logfile
Both case exit on the if [ $? != 0 ], seems like the element which follow the 1st long option doesn't get parsed.
Ok, I figured out and it's all due to the using of "$*" instead of "$#" in the getopt call. I don't exactly why, i guessed both do the same thing, but it turns out to be the one which causes the problem.

Best way to parse command line args in Bash?

After several days of research, I still can't figure out the best method for parsing cmdline args in a .sh script. According to my references the getopts cmd is the way to go since it "extracts and checks switches without disturbing the positional parameter variables.Unexpected switches, or switches that are missing arguments, are recognized and reportedas errors."
Positional params(Ex. 2 - $#, $#, etc) apparently don't work well when spaces are involved but can recognize regular and long parameters(-p and --longparam). I noticed that both methods fail when passing parameters with nested quotes ("this is an Ex. of ""quotes""."). Which one of these three code samples best illustrates the way to deal with cmdline args? The getopt function is not recommended by gurus, so I'm trying to avoid it!
Example 1:
#!/bin/bash
for i in "$#"
do
case $i in
-p=*|--prefix=*)
PREFIX=`echo $i | sed 's/[-a-zA-Z0-9]*=//'`
;;
-s=*|--searchpath=*)
SEARCHPATH=`echo $i | sed 's/[-a-zA-Z0-9]*=//'`
;;
-l=*|--lib=*)
DIR=`echo $i | sed 's/[-a-zA-Z0-9]*=//'`
;;
--default)
DEFAULT=YES
;;
*)
# unknown option
;;
esac
done
exit 0
Example 2:
#!/bin/bash
echo ‘number of arguments’
echo "\$#: $#"
echo ”
echo ‘using $num’
echo "\$0: $0"
if [ $# -ge 1 ];then echo "\$1: $1"; fi
if [ $# -ge 2 ];then echo "\$2: $2"; fi
if [ $# -ge 3 ];then echo "\$3: $3"; fi
if [ $# -ge 4 ];then echo "\$4: $4"; fi
if [ $# -ge 5 ];then echo "\$5: $5"; fi
echo ”
echo ‘using $#’
let i=1
for x in $#; do
echo "$i: $x"
let i=$i+1
done
echo ”
echo ‘using $*’
let i=1
for x in $*; do
echo "$i: $x"
let i=$i+1
done
echo ”
let i=1
echo ‘using shift’
while [ $# -gt 0 ]
do
echo "$i: $1"
let i=$i+1
shift
done
[/bash]
output:
bash> commandLineArguments.bash
number of arguments
$#: 0
using $num
$0: ./commandLineArguments.bash
using $#
using $*
using shift
#bash> commandLineArguments.bash "abc def" g h i j*
Example 3:
#!/bin/bash
while getopts ":a:" opt; do
case $opt in
a)
echo "-a was triggered, Parameter: $OPTARG" >&2
;;
\?)
echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG" >&2
exit 1
;;
:)
echo "Option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2
exit 1
;;
esac
done
exit 0
I find the use of getopt to be the easiest. It provides correct handling of arguments which is tricky otherwise. For example, getopt will know how to handle arguments to a long option specified on the command line as --arg=option or --arg option.
What is useful in parsing any input passed to a shell script is the use of the "$#" variables. See the bash man page for how this differs from $#. It ensures that you can process arguments that include spaces.
Here's an example of how I might write s script to parse some simple command line arguments:
#!/bin/bash
args=$(getopt -l "searchpath:" -o "s:h" -- "$#")
eval set -- "$args"
while [ $# -ge 1 ]; do
case "$1" in
--)
# No more options left.
shift
break
;;
-s|--searchpath)
searchpath="$2"
shift
;;
-h)
echo "Display some help"
exit 0
;;
esac
shift
done
echo "searchpath: $searchpath"
echo "remaining args: $*"
And used like this to show that spaces and quotes are preserved:
user#machine:~/bin$ ./getopt_test --searchpath "File with spaces and \"quotes\"."
searchpath: File with spaces and "quotes".
remaining args: other args
Some basic information about the use of getopt can be found here
If you want to avoid using getopt you can use this nice quick approach:
Defining help with all options as ## comments (customise as you wish).
Define for each option a function with same name.
Copy the last five lines of this script to your script (the magic).
Example script: log.sh
#!/bin/sh
## $PROG 1.0 - Print logs [2017-10-01]
## Compatible with bash and dash/POSIX
##
## Usage: $PROG [OPTION...] [COMMAND]...
## Options:
## -i, --log-info Set log level to info (default)
## -q, --log-quiet Set log level to quiet
## -l, --log MESSAGE Log a message
## Commands:
## -h, --help Displays this help and exists
## -v, --version Displays output version and exists
## Examples:
## $PROG -i myscrip-simple.sh > myscript-full.sh
## $PROG -r myscrip-full.sh > myscript-simple.sh
PROG=${0##*/}
LOG=info
die() { echo $# >&2; exit 2; }
log_info() {
LOG=info
}
log_quiet() {
LOG=quiet
}
log() {
[ $LOG = info ] && echo "$1"; return 1 ## number of args used
}
help() {
grep "^##" "$0" | sed -e "s/^...//" -e "s/\$PROG/$PROG/g"; exit 0
}
version() {
help | head -1
}
[ $# = 0 ] && help
while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
CMD=$(grep -m 1 -Po "^## *$1, --\K[^= ]*|^##.* --\K${1#--}(?:[= ])" log.sh | sed -e "s/-/_/g")
if [ -z "$CMD" ]; then echo "ERROR: Command '$1' not supported"; exit 1; fi
shift; eval "$CMD" $# || shift $? 2> /dev/null
done
Testing
Running this command:
./log.sh --log yep --log-quiet -l nop -i -l yes
Produces this output:
yep
yes
By the way: It's compatible with posix!

Converting Bash command line options to variable name

I am trying to write a bash script that takes in an option.
Lets call these options A and B.
In the script A and B may or may not be defined as variables.
I want to be able to check if the variable is defined or not.
I have tried the following but it doesn't work.
if [ ! -n $1 ]; then
echo "Error"
fi
Thanks
The "correct" way to test whether a variable is set is to use the + expansion option. You'll see this a lot in configure scripts:
if test -s "${foo+set}"
where ${foo+set} expands to "set" if it is set or "" if it's not. This allows for the variable to be set but empty, if you need it. ${foo:+set} additionally requires $foo to not be empty.
(That $(eval echo $a) thing has problems: it's slow, and it's vulnerable to code injection (!).)
Oh, and if you just want to throw an error if something required isn't set, you can just refer to the variable as ${foo:?} (leave off the : if set but empty is permissible), or for a custom error message ${foo:?Please specify a foo.}.
You did not define how these options should be passed in, but I think:
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Error"
exit 1
fi
is what you are looking for.
However, if some of these options are, err, optional, then you might want something like:
#!/bin/bash
USAGE="$0: [-a] [--alpha] [-b type] [--beta file] [-g|--gamma] args..."
ARGS=`POSIXLY_CORRECT=1 getopt -n "$0" -s bash -o ab:g -l alpha,beta:,gamma -- "$#"`
if [ $? -ne 0 ]
then
echo "$USAGE" >&2
exit 1
fi
eval set -- "$ARGS"
unset ARGS
while true
do
case "$1" in
-a) echo "Option a"; shift;;
--alpha) echo "Option alpha"; shift;;
-b) echo "Option b, arg '$2'"; shift 2;;
--beta) echo "Option beta, arg '$2'"; shift 2;;
-g|--gamma) echo "Option g or gamma"; shift;;
--) shift ; break ;;
*) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
esac
done
echo Remaining args
for arg in "$#"
do
echo '--> '"\`$arg'"
done
exit 0
Don't do it that way, try this:
if [[ -z $1 ]]; then
echo "Error"
fi
The error in your version is actually the lack of quoting.
Should be:
if [ ! -n "$1" ]; then
echo "Error"
fi
But you don't need the negation, use -z instead.
If you work on Bash, then use double brackets [[ ]] too.
from the man bash page:
-z string
True if the length of string is zero.
-n string
True if the length of string is non-zero.
Also, if you use bash v4 or greater (bash --version) there's -v
-v varname
True if the shell variable varname is set (has been assigned a value).
The trick is "$1", i.e.
root#root:~# cat auto.sh
Usage () {
echo "error"
}
if [ ! -n $1 ];then
Usage
exit 1
fi
root#root:~# bash auto.sh
root#root:~# cat auto2.sh
Usage () {
echo "error"
}
if [ ! -n "$1" ];then
Usage
exit 1
fi
root#root:~# bash auto2.sh
error

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