How to create and save a bash script - bash

The teacher never explained us anything about unix and bash. He told us something about the history. Then he said how to fill in an IP address in a program called putty, which is the shell we used to work on the server. He basically gave us 7 series of exercises. We also had a book that was pretty useless. I mostly used internet and SO to help myself out, along with the commands I knew from DOS and the man/info pages.
The question is, what is the preferred text editor to make scripts? Internet says any will do but I know only cat. And then, how do I even begin? What I need is a crash course or something. I'm sorry I know this isn't the best kind of question to ask here but it's all I can think of atm. Don't blame me, but please do bash the teacher (pun intended).

Try using vi as your text editor. Change to the directory you want your script to be saved in and then type in `vi myScript.sh". This will start the vi text editor. You can type in all your shell commands here.
Here's a link to a vi cheat sheet - http://linuxfordummies.org/tag/vi/
Once your in vi, you can type in one command on each line, you can use enter to move to the next line. After you have your script typed in, press : on the keyboard to open a prompt for vi. Once you have the : (colon) prompt at the bottom of the screen, enter wq for write/quit. This will save myScript.sh to the directory you started in. You should then be able to execute the script just by calling myScript.sh
I hope this helps, best of luck!

You could use the vi text editor, but it can be a bit tricky if you're starting out. I would try gedit if your using a GNOME environment

Related

Ubuntu 19.10 shell script only opens from /Desktop/ directory

I have a shell script file on my Desktop, and I have my preferences set so that when I double-click it, I'll be prompted for if I want to open it for edit, or run it. This works fine when double-clicking the file in my /home/[user]/Desktop folder, but when I double-click the file on my actual Desktop, it doesn't work.
Why is this and how can I run the file from my Desktop?
There can be a number of things that could be wrong in your environment. Could you provide us with the contents of the shell script and a screenshot of your preferences? Could you also expand on what doesn't work? What is the behavior you received after you attempted to run the shell script?
There are a lot of information that was left out that is preventing a large number of our community from helping you.
You can reference the FAQ on asking a question here: https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask
P.S. Welcome to the community!

Bring Terminal in the front with Ruby

I am using Ruby on a mac to open a dozen URLs one at a time with Nokogiri etc.
For each URL I need to let my ruby program know
whether to keep the URL window for further inspection or close it.
But I cannot see the terminal window and its prompt, it is hidden behind
the last URL window.
I have to click on the terminal window in order to bring it to the front, in order to enter my decision on the keyboard.
puts "close webpage?"
if gets =~ /^y/i then 1 ; else; 0; end;
I would like the terminal window to come to the front before it prompts
me for an answer.
I think the question is two fold
Is there a terminal command that tells a terminal window to become
the active one (the one in the front) that would work with mac iTerm.
The Apple script "bringiTermtofront" works in the applescript editor.
tell application "iTerm" to activate
Is there a way to execute a terminal command from ruby.
the ruby code
system "osascript bringiTermtofront.scpt"
brings the iTerm to the front.
For Question 1, one approach would be to write an Applescript to handle the switch, and then use the Terminal command osascript to run it from your Ruby code. You could also check if rb-appscript is still usable (it's no longer supported, but might work).
For Question 2, you have a few choices. Using backticks around the command will let you capture the output of a brief command, if you want to store the result of the command in a variable. (E.g. use grep or something similar).
The system method in Kernel is probably your best choice, though, as it will execute shell commands as if at the terminal.
Per the edit showing what script you're using, you need to execute the script as Applescript, not as a terminal script. You don't even need a separate file as it's just one line. This would be :
command = %q[osascript -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to activate"]
system(command)
You could also put the Applescript in a file and execute it using just
system("osascript bringiTermtofront")
See "Running shell commands from Ruby" for a little more help on how to interact with these methods.

AutoHotkey - persistent keystroke expansion? - HotStrings

I am having trouble understanding how this product works. In the old days of Windows 3.1 and 95 I used these things called "hotkeys" where, no matter where I was in Windows, I could hit a certain key combination and it would happen. I assumed that was what this program did. Is it really just a scripting language?
I followed the "quick start" tutorial in the help file and it talks about creating a script and how to set strings for keystroke patterns to expand into. However, I created this simple script and put it in an AHK file on my Desktop:
::gsell::
Great Seller! A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Return
When I run the script from my desktop it appears to complete pretty much instantly, and of course it does nothing because I am on my desktop. I assumed there was some way to actually use these hotkeys in other applications, but it is not obvious to me and I've made a fair effort. Is this just an automation scripting language, or is there some simple way to set up some simple hotkeys and have them persist across applications?
Hotkeys and Hotstrings are available globally by default. Your issue with the expansion is likely because you have special characters that need to be escaped. Try the following:
::gsell::Great Seller{!} A{+}
; Simple Hotkey - Ctrl+F1
^F1::Msgbox, You pressed a hotkey
I decided to try an example from the help file and it did work. Apparently the place where I thought it was telling me the script was closed, was actually saying the script was still running, and it counts the number of seconds when you refresh. For some reason the text expansion is still not working, but this question is pretty much solved.

ActivePerl. .pl files no longer execute but open in Notepad instead

I have perl scripts which were running in Windows 7 just fine as of this morning. I made the mistake of using NotePad as the default for opening/editng my .pl files. Now, when I attempt to run the unedited .pl files from a DOS prompt, the script does not execute but opens the associated source code file in Windows Explorer. This is the same for all my .pl files no matter the complexity (including classic "hello world".
I have been researching changes need to the registry - it all looks fine. Tried assoc and ftype changes - nothing. Tried reinstalling ActivePerl - no solution.
You don't need to go into the Registry.
Go into Windows Explorer.
Find a file that ends in a *.pl suffix.
Right click on it and bring up the Context menu.
Select "Open With" (It might just be Open... with an ellipse after it. I don't have a Windows machine at the moment to verify this). This will bring up a dialog box with all the various programs. NOTE: Perl may not be listed in the initial set of programs. No worry, just navigate to it.
On the bottom of the dialog box is a checkbox (Something like open all extensions with this program). Make sure that checkbox is checked.
After this, all files that end with *.pl will open with Perl instead of Notepad.
It is highly likely that someone did this with a Perl script in order to edit it, and messed up the file association.
However, who ever did this should be doped slap -- not for messing up the file association, but for editing a program with Notepad. Bad Developer! No doughnuts for you!
Programs should be opened with a Program Editor. If you're a real he-man, you can use VIM. VIM is a fast, and powerful program editor, but you will need to spend an internship at the feet of a VIM Ninja master in order to learn how to use it. Your first three to six months with VIM will be What a idiotic program! This is awful. Who wrote this crap?. Then, one day, you will understand its power and efficiency. You will be one with the program.
If you aren't brave or fearless or don't have six months to waste learning a programming editor, you can use Notepad++. Compared to VIM Notepad++ is like driving a Minivan. It's safe, it's practical, and it gets the job done.
Both editors do Syntax Highlighting which can help you find issues. Both, (VIM can -- I think Notepad++ can too) offer help with syntax and usage. Both can edit a file without messing up the line endings (They'll both detect whether a file has Unix or Windows line endings and keep those or allow you to convert them). Both will number your lines, have extensive cut/paste buffers, powerful search and replace features. And will not mess up your file encoding. Both offer visual diffing between files and do automatic backups when you edit a file.
Finally, these two editors will embed themselves into the context menu you get when you right click on a file. You can edit a file by clicking on it, and selecting VIM or Notepad++ directly from the context menu. No need to select "Open with..." and possibly mess up the file suffix association.
Never ever use Notepad to edit a program.
Sounds like your .pl extention association is now set to Notepad rather than perl.exe. If you are too busy to fix that, just type "perl yourscript.pl" in a command promot window to start the perl interpreter and to send your script to it to run.
See this answer to fix the association:
File Type .pl Association and Using cmd.exe to Run the Script
I have the same problem. None of the method mentioned above solve the problem. The problem actually came from Windows 7! Windows 7 Doesn't allow you to associate .pl to perl.exe in c:\Perl64 directory, for whatever reason.
Here is the solution:
If you look at c:\Perl64\Bin directory (or the path where your ActivePerl binary installed), you'll see another file: Perl5.14.2.exe. This is the same file as perl.exe in same directory but with version number attached as postfix in the name.
You can associate .pl file to that Perl5.14.2.exe instead of perl.exe. Bingo, it works now.

Better windows command line shells [closed]

Closed. This question is opinion-based. It is not currently accepting answers.
Want to improve this question? Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations by editing this post.
Closed 9 years ago.
Improve this question
Is there a better windows command line shell other than cmd which has better copy paste between Windows' windows and console windows?
Enable QuickEdit mode, under the Options tab of your shortcut to the command shell. Mark with the mouse, right-click to copy, right-click again to paste.
While you're there, enable a hotkey (like CTRL + ALT + C) for lightning fast access to the shell.
And no, you can't have CTRL + C for COPY, because CTRL + C means BREAK.
On a related note, the Microsoftee who changed the default setting of QuickEdit mode between Windows Server 2000 and 2003 is an idiot and I heap curses upon him each workday.
Windows PowerShell is the obvious choice when it comes to "better windows command line shell other than cmd". Its clipboard handling isn't that much of an improvement - mark with the mouse, Enter to copy, or right mouse click to paste.
This probably is not exactly what you want, but you can take a look at Console2
I have it configured so that shift+select auto copies and middle click pastes, really handy, internally it uses same old cmd.exe so you are not really getting a different shell.
By the way, I guess Ctrl+C = copy is not the best idea in a command line context because it usually means interrupt running process.
Take Command does support Copy/Cut/Paste from the keyboard and the mouse. It's pretty handy if you do a lot of work from a command prompt. It also supports:
Command and folder history, with popup windows to select prior commands or folders.
Screen scroll back buffer
Enhanced batch commands
Built in FTP/HTTP file access
A toolbar with programmable buttons
Note: It's a paid tool, with price of $99.95.
Depending on what you're trying to do with the shell, rxvt in cygwin is good.
You'll get the nicety of auto copy on selection and middle click paste. The biggest downside is that some windows console apps don't play nice with cygwin.
PowerCmd is cheaper than TakeCommand and has a lot of powerful features - not the least of which is better handling of Cut/Copy/Paste. I've only been using it a short time but I'm really impressed so far:
Summary from the site:
PowerCmd enhances your command prompt
with an easy-to-use Windows GUI-style
interface and allows you to run
multiple consoles within a single
tabbed window. You can easily organize
multiple consoles in vertical,
horizontal, and grid forms. Auto-log,
auto-completion, keywords highlight,
configurable font and colors,
customizable toolbar for frequently
used commands or tools and minimizing
to tray are easy solutions to daily
needs. With PowerCmd, you can save and
restore your sessions from last time.
Site:
http://www.powercmd.com/
Features:
http://www.powercmd.com/features.php
Not sure what specifically you mean by better copy/paste but try Take Command.
Take Command supports Shift+Ins for paste and Shift+Del for cut, but apparently nothing for copy, will dig some more.
There are two portion to cmd.exe. First there is the window that pops up for dealing with the text console. I would replace that with ConEmu. That program is actually meant as a wrapper for the Far File manager but works just fine without it. It is very similar to Console2 but also is much more stable and has better features.
Second there is the command line interpreter. I would replace that with Powershell if you actually need any of its features.
I currently run using ConEmu with a batch file to setup my preferred environment. This is kept in my Dropbox folder so it remains synchronized between my computers.
Have you thought through what behavior you want to replace the current Ctrl+C functionality?
Console 2
http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Console2ABetterWindowsCommandPrompt.aspx
#Chirs
I think you need to clarify shell vs host(emulator). To me it sounds like you need another interface to your existing shell that better supports copy and paste, not another shell that supports more/different features.
I second Pat's suggestion of Console2, it is a very good application and OSS to boot.
The Windows cmd shell, Cygwin Bash, and msysgit Bash shells can be run within Emacs. EmacsW32 provides all three separately. You just have to set the bin directory to use either of the Bash shells. EmacsW32 also provides limited interactions between the Windows clipboard and the top item of the kill ring.
MinGW Shell properly set up with:
right click menu entry
~/.profile file
is well above anything else I have tried.
MinTTY on MinGW/MSYS is nice—nicer than on Cygwin because MinGW/MSYS is faster. Also, if you need cmd.exe behaviour, you can run cmd.exe inside of mintty easily.
See http://code.google.com/p/mintty/.
I use the standard CMD.EXE shell but with a twist: an AutoHotKey script to support clipboard copy-paste as posted in: Keyboard shortcut to paste clipboard content into command prompt window (Win XP)

Resources