So I've been reading around about getopts, getopt, etc. but I haven't found an exact solution to my problem.
The basic idea of the usage of my script is:
./program [-u] [-s] [-d] <TEXT>
Except TEXT is not required if -d is passed. Note that TEXT is usually a paragraph of text.
My main problem is that once getopts finishing parsing the flags, I have no way of knowing the position of the TEXT parameter. I could just assume that TEXT is the last argument, however, if a user messes up and does something like:
./program -u "sentence 1" "sentence 2"
then the program will not realize that the usage is incorrect.
The closest I've come is using getopt and IFS by doing
ARGS=$(getopt usd: $*)
IFS=' ' read -a array <<< "$ARGS"
The only problem is that TEXT might be a long paragraph of text and this method splits every word of text because of the spaces.
I'm thinking my best bet is to use a regular expression to ensure the usage is correctly formed and then extract the arguments with getopts, but it would be nice if there was a simpler solution
It's quite simple with getopts:
#!/bin/bash
u_set=0
s_set=0
d_set=0
while getopts usd OPT; do
case "$OPT" in
u) u_set=1;;
s) s_set=1;;
d) d_set=1;;
*) # getopts produces error
exit 1;;
esac
done
if ((!d_set && OPTIND>$#)); then
echo You must provide text or use -d >>/dev/stderr
exit 1
fi
# The easiest way to get rid of the processed options:
shift $((OPTIND-1))
# This will run all of the remaining arguments together with spaces between them:
TEXT="$*"
This is what I typically do:
local badflag=""
local aflag=""
local bflag=""
local cflag=""
local dflag=""
while [[ "$1" == -* ]]; do
case $1 in
-a)
aflag="-a"
;;
-b)
bflag="-b"
;;
-c)
cflag="-c"
;;
-d)
dflag="-d"
;;
*)
badflag=$1
;;
esac
shift
done
if [ "$badflag" != "" ]; do
echo "ERROR CONDITION"
fi
if [ "$1" == "" ] && [ "$dflag" == "" ]; do
echo "ERROR CONDITION"
fi
local remaining_text=$#
Related
I'd like to be able to handle multiple arguments to a given flag no matter what the order of flags is. Do you guys think this is acceptable? Any improvements?
So:
$ ./script -c opt1 opt2 opt3 -b foo
opt1 opt2 opt3
foo
Code:
echo_args () {
echo "$#"
}
while (( $# > 0 )); do
case "$1" in
-b)
echo $2
;;
-c|--create)
c_args=()
# start looping from this flag
for arg in ${#:2}; do
[ "${arg:0:1}" == "-" ] && break
c_args+=("$arg")
done
echo_args "${c_args[#]}"
;;
*)
echo "huh?"
;;
esac
shift 1
done
The getopts utility shall retrieve options and option-arguments from a list of parameters.
$ cat script.sh
cflag=
bflag=
while getopts c:b: name
do
case $name in
b) bflag=1
bval="$OPTARG";;
c) cflag=1
cval="$OPTARG";;
?) printf "Usage: %s: [-c value] [-b value] args\n" $0
exit 2;;
esac
done
if [ ! -z "$bflag" ]; then
printf 'Option -b "%s" specified\n' "$bval"
fi
if [ ! -z "$cflag" ]; then
printf 'Option -c "%s" specified\n' "$cval"
fi
shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
printf "Remaining arguments are: %s\n" "$*"
Note the Guideline 8:
When multiple option-arguments are specified to follow a single option, they should be presented as a single argument, using commas within that argument or <blank>s within that argument to separate them.
$ ./script.sh -c "opt1 opt2 opt3" -b foo
Option -b "foo" specified
Option -c "opt1 opt2 opt3" specified
Remaining arguments are:
The standard links are listed below:
getopts - parse utility options
Section 12.2 Utility Syntax Guidelines
I noticed in the comments that you don't want to use any of these. What you could do is set all of the arguments as a string, then sort them using a loop, pulling out the ones you want to set as switched and sorting them using if statements. It is a little brutish, but it can be done.
#!/bin/bash
#set all of the arguments as a variable
ARGUMENTS=$#
# Look at each argument and determine what to do with it.
for i in $ARGUMENTS; do
# If the previous loop was -b then grab the value of this argument
if [[ "$bgrab" == "1" ]]; then
#adds the value of -b to the b string
bval="$bval $i"
bgrab="0"
else
# If this argument is -b, prepare to grab the next argument and assign it
if [[ "$i" == "-b" ]]; then
bgrab="1"
else
#Collect the remaining arguments into one list per your example
RemainingArgs="$RemainingArgs $i"
fi
fi
done
echo "Arguments: $RemainingArgs"
echo "B Value: $bval"
I use something similar in a lot of my scripts because there are a significant amount of arguments that can be fed into some of them, and the script needs to look at each one to figure out what to do. They can be out of order or not exist at all and the code still has to work.
So I have a couple of getopts in my bash script. Here's an example of a working one.
FOUND=
SEARCH=
COUNT=0
while getopts "ips:flenkc" OPTION
do
case $OPTION in
i)
FOUND=1
let "COUNT++"
;;
p)
FOUND=2
let "COUNT++"
;;
s)
FOUND=3
SEARCH=$OPTARG
let "COUNT++"
;;
esac
done
Later on a case statement that checks to see if count=1 (meaning, only one of the following, i, p, and s, are used in the call) Not important except that it determines the main action being done.
Now the getopts thing in question. This was working before, and now it's not. The goal is to make it so that if someone wants to input data, they can do so with the following bash command.
./programname -i -f Mary -l Sue -e smary#email.com -n 555-555-5555
Where, when -i is used, we must have -f, -l, -e, and -n (for first name, last name, e-mail, and number).
The code I was using: Warning, code is full of syntax errors. If you're learning bash, I highly recommend you do not use anything you see here in my post.
if [ $FOUND == "1" ]
then
echo "You have chosen to insert things."
FIRST=
LAST=
EMAIL=
NUMBER=
while getopts "if:l:e:n:" OPTION
do
case $OPTION in
f)
FIRST=$OPTARG
;;
l)
LAST=$OPTARG
;;
e)
EMAIL=$OPTARG
;;
n)
NUMBER=$OPTARG
;;
esac
done
if [[ -z $FIRST ]] || [[ -z $LAST ]] || [[ -z $EMAIL ]] || [[ -z $NUMBER ]]
echo "Error!!! Some input is missing!!!"
usage // display usage
exit 1
fi
echo -e $FIRST"\t"$LAST"\t"$EMAIL"\t"$NUMBER >> contacts
fi
Before this program would work, but now, not even a single thing is making it to input for FIRST, LAST, EMAIL, and NUMBER (in my attempts to change the code to see if it was making it to certain steps).
What am I doing wrong with the getopts? It was working fine before, but now.... it's not working at all!
One thing worth noting up front: if your script has already called getopts once, another getopts call will start AFTER all options and therefore effectively do nothing; reset OPTIND to 1 before each subsequent getopts calls to have them reprocess all options.
Your code has both syntax errors and is worth cleaning up in general:
The if [[ -z ... statement was missing a then.
The // after usage would have caused a syntax error - POSIX-like shells use # as the comment char.
Since this is bash script, stick with using [[ ... ]] consistently (no need for [ ... ]) and/or use (( ... )) for arithmetic operations.
Specifically, avoid [ ... == ... ], because it mixes POSIX syntax - [ ... ] - with Bash-specific syntax - == ( POSIX only supports =).
If you do use [ ... ], be sure to double-quote variable references, to be safe.
No need for multiple [[ ... ]] expressions to OR them together - do it in a single [[ ... || ... || ... ]].
It's best to avoid all-uppercase shell-variable names so as to avoid conflicts with environment variables and special shell variables.
Output error messages to stderr, using >&2.
Enclose the entire argument to echo -e in double-quotes to protect variable values from possibly unwanted expansions.
Mere syntax errors can usually be caught using shellcheck.net.
Putting it all together, we get:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# ... code that sets $found
# If you've already processed args. with getopts above,
# you must reset OPTIND to process them again.
OPTIND=1
if (( found == 1 )) # found is numeric, use arithmetic expression to compare
then
echo "You have chosen to insert things."
first= last= email= number= # don't use all-uppercase var. names
while getopts "if:l:e:n:" option
do
case $option in
f)
first=$OPTARG
;;
l)
last=$OPTARG
;;
e)
email=$OPTARG
;;
n)
number=$OPTARG
;;
esac
done
if [[ -z $first || -z $last || -z $email || -z $number ]]; then
echo "Error!!! Some input is missing!!!" >&2
usage # display usage
exit 1
fi
echo -e "$first\t$last\t$email\t$number" >> contacts
fi
I need help with my getopts, i want to be able to run this command ( mount command) only if i pass a flag ( -d in this case).
below output is what i have on my script but it doesn't seem to work.
CHECKMOUNT=" "
while getopts ":d" opt
do
case "$opt" in
d) CHECKMOUNT="true" ;;
usage >&2
exit 1;;
esac
done
shift `expr $OPTIND-1`
FS_TO_CHECK="/dev"
if [ "$CHECKMOUNT" = "true" ]
then
if cat /proc/mounts | grep $FS_TO_CHECK > /dev/null; then
# Filesystem is mounted
else
# Filesystem is not mounted
fi
fi
Your script has a number of problems.
Here is the minimal list of fixes to get it working:
While is not a bash control statement, it's while. Case is important.
Whitespace is important: if ["$CHECKMOUNT"= "true"] doesn't work and should cause error messages. You need spaces around the brackets and around the =, like so: if [ "$CHECKMOUNT" = "true" ].
Your usage of getopts is incorrect, I'm guessing that you mistyped this copying an example: While getopts :d: opt should be: while getopts ":d" opt.
Your usage of shift is incorrect. This should cause error messages. Change this to: shift $((OPTIND-1)) if you need to shift OPTIND.
The bare text unknocn flag seems like a comment, precede it with #, otherwise you'll get an error when using an unknown option.
There is no usage function. Define one, or change usage in your \?) case to an echo with usage instructions.
Finally, if your script only requires a single optional argument, you might also simply process it yourself instead of using getopt - the first argument to your script is stored in the special variable $1:
if [ "$1" = "-d" ]; then
CHECKMOUNT="true"
elif [ "$1" != "" ]; then
usage >&2
exit 1
fi
I am using following script :
#!/bin/bash
#script to print quality of man
#unnikrishnan 24/Nov/2010
shopt -s -o nounset
declare -rx SCRIPT=${0##*/}
declare -r OPTSTRING="hm:q:"
declare SWITCH
declare MAN
declare QUALITY
if [ $# -eq 0 ];then
printf "%s -h for more information\n" "$SCRIPT"
exit 192
fi
while getopts "$OPTSTRING" SWITCH;do
case "$SWITCH" in
h) printf "%s\n" "Usage $SCRIPT -h -m MAN-NAME -q MAN-QUALITY"
exit 0
;;
m) MAN="$OPTARG"
;;
q) QUALITY="$OPTARG"
;;
\?) printf "%s\n" "Invalid option"
printf "%s\n" "$SWITCH"
exit 192
;;
*) printf "%s\n" "Invalid argument"
exit 192
;;
esac
done
printf "%s is a %s boy\n" "$MAN" "$QUALITY"
exit 0
In this if I am giving the junk option :
./getopts.sh adsas
./getopts.sh: line 32: MAN: unbound variable
you can see it fails. it seems while is not working. What is the best way to solve it.
The getopts builtin returns 1 ("false") when there are no option arguments.
So, your while never executes unless you have option arguments beginning with a -.
Note the last paragraph in the getopts section of bash(1):
getopts returns true if an option, specified or unspecified, is
found. It returns false if the end of options is encountered or
an error occurs.
If you absolutely require MAN, then i suggest you don't make it an option parameter, but a positional parameter. Options are supposed to be optional.
However, if you want to do it as an option, then do:
# initialise MAN to the empty string
MAN=
# loop as rewritten by DigitalRoss
while getopts "$OPTSTRING" SWITCH "$#"; do
case "$SWITCH" in
m) MAN="$OPTARG" ;;
esac
done
# check that you have a value for MAN
[[ -n "$MAN" ]] || { echo "You must supply a MAN's name with -m"; exit 1; }
Even better, print the usage message before exiting - pull it out into a function so you can share it with the -h option's case.
The "best" solution is subjective. One solution would be to give default values to those variables that can be set by options.
In the middle of a script, I want to check if a given flag was passed on the command line. The following does what I want but seems ugly:
if echo $* | grep -e "--flag" -q
then
echo ">>>> Running with flag"
else
echo ">>>> Running without flag"
fi
Is there a better way?
Note: I explicitly don't want to list all the flags in a switch/getopt. (In this case any such things would become half or more of the full script. Also the bodies of the if just set a set of vars)
An alternative to what you're doing:
if [[ $* == *--flag* ]]
See also BashFAQ/035.
Note: This will also match --flags-off since it's a simple substring check.
I typically see this done with a case statement. Here's an excerpt from the git-repack script:
while test $# != 0
do
case "$1" in
-n) no_update_info=t ;;
-a) all_into_one=t ;;
-A) all_into_one=t
unpack_unreachable=--unpack-unreachable ;;
-d) remove_redundant=t ;;
-q) GIT_QUIET=t ;;
-f) no_reuse=--no-reuse-object ;;
-l) local=--local ;;
--max-pack-size|--window|--window-memory|--depth)
extra="$extra $1=$2"; shift ;;
--) shift; break;;
*) usage ;;
esac
shift
done
Note that this allows you to check for both short and long flags. Other options are built up using the extra variable in this case.
you can take the straight-forward approach, and iterate over the arguments to test each of them for equality with a given parameter (e.g. -t, --therizinosaurus).
put it into a function:
has_param() {
local term="$1"
shift
for arg; do
if [[ $arg == "$term" ]]; then
return 0
fi
done
return 1
}
… and use it as a predicate in test expressions:
if has_param '-t' "$#"; then
echo "yay!"
fi
if ! has_param '-t' "$1" "$2" "$wat"; then
echo "nay..."
fi
if you want to reject empty arguments, add an exit point at the top of the loop body:
for arg; do
if [[ -z "$arg" ]]; then
return 2
fi
# ...
this is very readable, and will not give you false positives, like pattern matching or regex matching will.
it will also allow placing flags at arbitrary positions, for example, you can put -h at the end of the command line (not going into whether it's good or bad).
but, the more i thought about it, the more something bothered me.
with a function, you can take any implementation (e.g. getopts), and reuse it. encapsulation rulez!
but even with commands, this strength can become a flaw. if you'll be using it again and again, you'll be parsing all the arguments each time.
my tendency is to favor reuse, but i have to be aware of the implications. the opposed approach would be to parse these arguments once at the script top, as you dreaded, and avoid the repeated parsing.
you can still encapsulate that switch case, which can be as big as you decide (you don't have to list all the options).
You can use the getopt keyword in bash.
From http://aplawrence.com/Unix/getopts.html:
getopt
This is a standalone executable that has been around a long time.
Older versions lack the ability to handle quoted arguments (foo a "this
won't work" c) and the versions that can, do so clumsily. If you are
running a recent Linux version, your "getopt" can do that; SCO OSR5,
Mac OS X 10.2.6 and FreeBSD 4.4 has an older version that does not.
The simple use of "getopt" is shown in this mini-script:
#!/bin/bash
echo "Before getopt"
for i
do
echo $i
done
args=`getopt abc:d $*`
set -- $args
echo "After getopt"
for i
do
echo "-->$i"
done
I've made small changes to the answer of Eliran Malka:
This function can evaluate different parameter synonyms, like "-q" and "--quick". Also, it does not use return 0/1 but an echo to return a non-null value when the parameter is found:
function has_param() {
local terms="$1"
shift
for term in $terms; do
for arg; do
if [[ $arg == "$term" ]]; then
echo "yes"
fi
done
done
}
# Same usage:
# Assign result to a variable.
FLAG_QUICK=$(has_param "-q --quick" "$#") # "yes" or ""
# Test in a condition using the nonzero-length-test to detect "yes" response.
if [[ -n $(has_param "-h --help" "$#") ]]; then;
echo "Need help?"
fi
# Check, is a flag is NOT set by using the zero-length test.
if [[ -z $(has_param "-f --flag" "$#") ]]; then
echo "FLAG NOT SET"
fi
The modification of Dennis Williamson's answer with additional example for a argument in the short form.
if [[ \ $*\ == *\ --flag\ * ]] || [[ \ $*\ == *\ -f\ * ]]
It solves the problem of false positive matching --flags-off and even --another--flag (more popular such case for an one-dashed arguments: --one-more-flag for *-f*).
\ (backslash + space) means space for expressions inside [[ ]]. Putting spaces around $* allows to be sure that the arguments contacts neither line's start nor line's end, they contacts only spaces. And now the target flag surrounded by spaces can be searched in the line with arguments.
if [ "$1" == "-n" ]; then
echo "Flag set";
fi
Here is a variation on the most voted answer that won't pick up false positives
if [[ " $* " == *" -r "* ]]; then
Not an alternative, but an improvement, though.
if echo $* | grep -e "\b--flag\b" -q
Looking for word boundaries will make sure to really get the option --flag and neither --flagstaff nor --not-really--flag