To test if a variable is read-only, there are the following ugly hacks:
# True if readonly
readonly -p | egrep "declare -[:lower:]+ ${var}="
# False if readonly
temp="$var"; eval $var=x 2>/dev/null && eval $var=\$temp
Is there a more elegant solution?
Using a subshell seems to work. Both with local and exported variables.
$ foo=123
$ bar=456
$ readonly foo
$ echo $foo $bar
123 456
$ (unset foo 2> /dev/null) || echo "Read only"
Read only
$ (unset bar 2> /dev/null) || echo "Read only"
$
$ echo $foo $bar
123 456 # Still intact :-)
The important thing is that even is that the subshell salvages your RW ($bar in this case) from being unset in your current shell.
Tested with bash and ksh.
You can also add an empty string to the variable, which still leaves its value alone, but is faster than using a subshell, e.g.:
foo+= 2>/dev/null || echo "Read only"
Captured as a function, it'd be:
is-writable() { eval "$1+=" >2/dev/null; }
Related
I have a script that I'd like people to source, but optionally so. So they can run it with or without sourcing it, it's up to them.
e.g. The following should both work:
$ . test.sh
$ test.sh
The problem is, test.sh contains exit statements if correct args aren't passed in. If someone sources the script, then the exit commands exit the terminal!
I've done a bit of research and see from this StackOverflow post that I could detect if it's being sourced, and do something different, but what would that something different be?
The normal way to exit from a sourced script is simply to return (optionally adding the desired exit code) outside of any function. Assuming that when run as a command we have the -e flag set, this will also exit from a shell program:
#!/bin/sh -eu
if [ $# = 0 ]
then
echo "Usage $0 <argument>" >&2
return 1
fi
If we're running without -e, we might be able to return || exit instead.
There may be better ways to do this, but here's a sample script showing how I got this to work:
bparks#home
$ set | grep TESTVAR
bparks#home
$ ./test.sh
Outputs some useful information to the console. Please pass one arg.
bparks#home
$ set | grep TESTVAR
bparks#home
$ . ./test.sh
Outputs some useful information to the console. Please pass one arg.
bparks#home
$ set | grep TESTVAR
bparks#home
$ ./test.sh asdf
export TESTVAR=me
bparks#home
$ set | grep TESTVAR
bparks#home
$ . ./test.sh asdf
bparks#home
$ set | grep TESTVAR
TESTVAR=me
bparks#home
$
test.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# store if we're sourced or not in a variable
(return 0 2>/dev/null) && SOURCED=1 || SOURCED=0
exitIfNotSourced(){
[[ "$SOURCED" != "0" ]] || exit;
}
showHelp(){
IT=$(cat <<EOF
Outputs some useful information to the console. Please pass one arg.
EOF
)
echo "$IT"
}
# Show help if no args supplied - works if sourced or not sourced
if [ -z "$1" ]
then
showHelp
exitIfNotSourced;
return;
fi
# your main script follows
# this sample shows exporting a variable if sourced,
# and outputting this to stdout if not sourced
if [ "$SOURCED" == "1" ]
then
export TESTVAR=me
else
echo "export TESTVAR=me"
fi
Checkout this answer for better description and porper solution.
And here is how it is used in docker-entrypoint.sh in official Mysql image:
# check to see if this file is being run or sourced from another script
_is_sourced() {
# https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/215279
[ "${#FUNCNAME[#]}" -ge 2 ] \
&& [ "${FUNCNAME[0]}" = '_is_sourced' ] \
&& [ "${FUNCNAME[1]}" = 'source' ]
}
I would like to run a bash script with a watchdog function launched in sub thread that will stop my program when a given variable reach a value. This variable is incremented in the main thread.
var=0
function watchdog()
{
if [[ $var -ge 3 ]]; then
echo "Error"
fi
}
{ watchdog;} &
# main program loop
((var++))
The problem in this code is that $var stays at 0. I also tried without {} around the watchdog call, same result.
Is my code style good ?
You cannot share variables between processes in bash, and it does not support multi-threading. So you need a form of Inter-Process Communication. One of the simplest is to use a named pipe, also known as a FIFO.
Here is and example:
pipe='/tmp/mypipe'
mkfifo "$pipe"
var=0
# Your definition is not strictly correct (although it will work)
watchdog()
{
# Note the loop
while read var
do
if (( var >= 3 )) # a better way to do numeric comparisons
then
echo "Error $var"
else
echo "$var"
fi
sleep 2 # to prevent CPU hogging
done
}
watchdog < "$pipe" & # No need for a group
# main program loop - ??? I see no loop
((var++))
echo "$var" > "$pipe"
((var++))
echo "$var" > "$pipe"
((var++))
echo "$var" > "$pipe"
echo "waiting"
wait
rm "$pipe"
Example run:
$ bash gash.sh
1
waiting
2
Error 3
However I really don't see the point in using a separate process. Why not just call a function to test the value after each change?
if you run your bashscript with a . before, it will be use the same environment and can change existing variable. Look at this:
$ cat test.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
a=12
echo $a
$ a=1
$ echo $a
1
$ ./test.sh
12
$ echo $a
1
$ . ./test.sh
12
$ echo $a
12
After i run . ./test.sh the variable $a has been changed through the script.
I want to create a function locally, echo_a in the example, and pass it with to a remote shell through ssh, here with typeset -f. The problem is that function does not have access to the local variables.
export a=1
echo_a() {
echo a: $a
}
bash <<EOF
$(typeset -f echo_a)
echo local heredoc:
echo_a
echo
echo local raw heredoc:
echo a: $a
echo
EOF
ssh localhost bash <<EOF
$(typeset -f echo_a)
echo remote heredoc:
echo_a
echo
echo remote raw heredoc:
echo a: $a
echo
EOF
Assuming the ssh connection is automatic, running the above script gives me as output:
local heredoc:
a: 1
local raw heredoc:
a: 1
remote heredoc:
a:
remote raw heredoc:
a: 1
See how the "remote heredoc" a is empty? What can I do to get 1 there?
I tested adding quotes and backslashes everywhere without success.
What am I missing? Would something else than typeset make this work?
Thanks to #Guy for the hint, it indeed is because ssh disables by default sending the environment variables. In my case, changing the server's setting was not wanted.
Hopefully we can hack around by using compgen, eval and declare.
First we identify added variables generically. Works if variables are created inside a called function too. Using compgen is neat because we don't need to export variables explicitely.
The array diff code comes from https://stackoverflow.com/a/2315459/1013628 and the compgen trick from https://stackoverflow.com/a/16337687/1013628.
# Store in env_before all variables created at this point
IFS=$'\n' read -rd '' -a env_before <<<"$(compgen -v)"
a=1
# Store in env_after all variables created at this point
IFS=$'\n' read -rd '' -a env_after <<<"$(compgen -v)"
# Store in env_added the diff betwen env_after and env_before
env_added=()
for i in "${env_after[#]}"; do
skip=
for j in "${env_before[#]}"; do
[[ $i == $j ]] && { skip=1; break; }
done
if [[ $i == "env_before" || $i == "PIPESTATUS" ]]; then
skip=1
fi
[[ -n $skip ]] || env_added+=("$i")
done
echo_a() {
echo a: $a
}
env_added holds now an array of all names of added variables between the two calls to compgen.
$ echo "${env_added[#]}"
a
I filter out also the variables env_before and PIPESTATUS as they are added automatically by bash.
Then, inside the heredocs, we add eval $(declare -p "${env_added[#]}").
declare -p VAR [VAR ...] prints, for each VAR, the variable name followed by = followed by its value:
$ a = 1
$ b = 2
$ declare -p a b
declare -- a=1
declare -- b=2
And the eval is to actually evaluate the declare lines. The rest of the code looks like:
bash <<EOF
# Eval the variables computed earlier
eval $(declare -p "${env_added[#]}")
$(typeset -f echo_a)
echo local heredoc:
echo_a
echo
echo local raw heredoc:
echo a: $a
echo
EOF
ssh rpi_301 bash <<EOF
# Eval the variables computed earlier
eval $(declare -p "${env_added[#]}")
$(typeset -f echo_a)
echo remote heredoc:
echo_a
echo
echo remote raw heredoc:
echo a: $a
echo
EOF
Finally, running the modified script gives me the wanted behavior:
local heredoc:
a: 1
local raw heredoc:
a: 1
remote heredoc:
a: 1
remote raw heredoc:
a: 1
I have some scripts that work with parameters, they work just fine but i would like them to be able to read from stdin, from a pipe for example, an example, suppose this is called read:
#!/bin/bash
function read()
{
echo $*
}
read $*
Now this works with read "foo" "bar", but I would like to use it as:
echo "foo" | read
How do I accomplish this?
It's a little tricky to write a function which can read standard input, but works properly when no standard input is given. If you simply try to read from standard input, it will block until it receives any, much like if you simply type cat at the prompt.
In bash 4, you can work around this by using the -t option to read with an argument of 0. It succeeds if there is any input available, but does not consume any of it; otherwise, it fails.
Here's a simple function that works like cat if it has anything from standard input, and echo otherwise.
catecho () {
if read -t 0; then
cat
else
echo "$*"
fi
}
$ catecho command line arguments
command line arguments
$ echo "foo bar" | catecho
foo bar
This makes standard input take precedence over command-line arguments, i.e., echo foo | catecho bar would output foo. To make arguments take precedence over standard input (echo foo | catecho bar outputs bar), you can use the simpler function
catecho () {
if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
cat
else
echo "$*"
fi
}
(which also has the advantage of working with any POSIX-compatible shell, not just certain versions of bash).
You can use <<< to get this behaviour. read <<< echo "text" should make it.
Test with readly (I prefer not using reserved words):
function readly()
{
echo $*
echo "this was a test"
}
$ readly <<< echo "hello"
hello
this was a test
With pipes, based on this answer to "Bash script, read values from stdin pipe":
$ echo "hello bye" | { read a; echo $a; echo "this was a test"; }
hello bye
this was a test
To combine a number of other answers into what worked for me (this contrived example turns lowercase input to uppercase):
uppercase() {
local COMMAND='tr [:lower:] [:upper:]'
if [ -t 0 ]; then
if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
echo "$*" | ${COMMAND}
fi
else
cat - | ${COMMAND}
fi
}
Some examples (the first has no input, and therefore no output):
:; uppercase
:; uppercase test
TEST
:; echo test | uppercase
TEST
:; uppercase <<< test
TEST
:; uppercase < <(echo test)
TEST
Step by step:
test if file descriptor 0 (/dev/stdin) was opened by a terminal
if [ -t 0 ]; then
tests for CLI invocation arguments
if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
echo all CLI arguments to command
echo "$*" | ${COMMAND}
else if stdin is piped (i.e. not terminal input), output stdin to command (cat - and cat are shorthand for cat /dev/stdin)
else
cat - | ${COMMAND}
Here is example implementation of sprintf function in bash which uses printf and standard input:
sprintf() { local stdin; read -d '' -u 0 stdin; printf "$#" "$stdin"; }
Example usage:
$ echo bar | sprintf "foo %s"
foo bar
This would give you an idea how function can read from standard input.
Late to the party here. Building off of #andy's answer, here's how I define my to_uppercase function.
if stdin is not empty, use stdin
if stdin is empty, use args
if args are empty, do nothing
to_uppercase() {
local input="$([[ -p /dev/stdin ]] && cat - || echo "$#")"
[[ -n "$input" ]] && echo "$input" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'
}
Usages:
$ to_uppercase
$ to_uppercase abc
ABC
$ echo abc | to_uppercase
ABC
$ to_uppercase <<< echo abc
ABC
Bash version info:
$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.57(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin17)
I've discovered that this can be done in one line using test and awk...
test -p /dev/stdin && awk '{print}' /dev/stdin
The test -p tests for input on a pipe, which accepts input via stdin. Only if input is present do we want to run the awk since otherwise it will hang indefinitely waiting for input which will never come.
I've put this into a function to make it easy to use...
inputStdin () {
test -p /dev/stdin && awk '{print}' /dev/stdin && return 0
### accepts input if any but does not hang waiting for input
#
return 1
}
Usage...
_stdin="$(inputStdin)"
Another function uses awk without the test to wait for commandline input...
inputCli () {
local _input=""
local _prompt="$1"
#
[[ "$_prompt" ]] && { printf "%s" "$_prompt" > /dev/tty; }
### no prompt at all if none supplied
#
_input="$(awk 'BEGIN {getline INPUT < "/dev/tty"; print INPUT}')"
### accept input (used in place of 'read')
### put in a BEGIN section so will only accept 1 line and exit on ENTER
### WAITS INDEFINITELY FOR INPUT
#
[[ "$_input" ]] && { printf "%s" "$_input"; return 0; }
#
return 1
}
Usage...
_userinput="$(inputCli "Prompt string: ")"
Note that the > /dev/tty on the first printf seems to be necessary to get the prompt to print when the function is called in a Command Substituion $(...).
This use of awk allows the elimination of the quirky read command for collecting input from keyboard or stdin.
Yet another version that:
works by passing text through a pipe or from arguments
easy to copy and paste by changing command in last line
works in bash, zsh
# Prints a text in a decorated ballon
function balloon()
{
(test -p /dev/stdin && cat - || echo $#) figlet -t | cowsay -n -f eyes | toilet -t --gay -f term
}
Usage:
# Using with a pipe
$ fortune -s | balloon
# Passing text as parameter
balloon "$(fortune -s )"
How can I check in bash and csh if commands are builtin? Is there a method compatible with most shells?
You can try using which in csh or type in bash. If something is a built-in command, it will say so; otherwise, you get the location of the command in your PATH.
In csh:
# which echo
echo: shell built-in command.
# which parted
/sbin/parted
In bash:
# type echo
echo is a shell builtin
# type parted
parted is /sbin/parted
type might also show something like this:
# type clear
clear is hashed (/usr/bin/clear)
...which means that it's not a built-in, but that bash has stored its location in a hashtable to speed up access to it; (a little bit) more in this post on Unix & Linux.
In bash, you can use the type command with the -t option. Full details can be found in the bash-builtins man page but the relevant bit is:
type -t name
If the -t option is used, type prints a string which is one of alias, keyword, function, builtin, or file if name is an alias, shell reserved word, function, builtin, or disk file, respectively. If the name is not found, then nothing is printed, and an exit status of false is returned.
Hence you can use a check such as:
if [[ "$(type -t read)" == "builtin" ]] ; then echo read ; fi
if [[ "$(type -t cd)" == "builtin" ]] ; then echo cd ; fi
if [[ "$(type -t ls)" == "builtin" ]] ; then echo ls ; fi
which would result in the output:
read
cd
For bash, use type command
For csh, you can use:
which command-name
If it's built-in, it will tell so.
Not sure if it works the same for bash.
We careful with aliases, though. There may be options for that.
The other answers here are close, but they all fail if there is an alias or function with the same name as the command you're checking.
Here's my solution:
In tcsh
Use the where command, which gives all occurrences of the command name, including whether it's a built-in. Then grep to see if one of the lines says that it's a built-in.
alias isbuiltin 'test \!:1 != "builtin" && where \!:1 | egrep "built-?in" > /dev/null || echo \!:1" is not a built-in"'
In bash/zsh
Use type -a, which gives all occurrences of the command name, including whether it's a built-in. Then grep to see if one of the lines says that it's a built-in.
isbuiltin() {
if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
echo "Usage: $0 command"
return 1
fi
cmd=$1
if ! type -a $cmd 2> /dev/null | egrep '\<built-?in\>' > /dev/null
then
printf "$cmd is not a built-in\n" >&2
return 1
fi
return 0
}
In ksh88/ksh93
Open a sub-shell so that you can remove any aliases or command names of the same name. Then in the subshell, use whence -v. There's also some extra archaic syntax in this solution to support ksh88.
isbuiltin() {
if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
echo "Usage: $0 command"
return 1
fi
cmd=$1
if (
#Open a subshell so that aliases and functions can be safely removed,
# allowing `whence -v` to see the built-in command if there is one.
unalias "$cmd";
if [[ "$cmd" != '.' ]] && typeset -f | egrep "^(function *$cmd|$cmd\(\))" > /dev/null 2>&1
then
#Remove the function iff it exists.
#Since `unset` is a special built-in, the subshell dies if it fails
unset -f "$cmd";
fi
PATH='/no';
#NOTE: we can't use `whence -a` because it's not supported in older versions of ksh
whence -v "$cmd" 2>&1
) 2> /dev/null | grep -v 'not found' | grep 'builtin' > /dev/null 2>&1
then
#No-op
:
else
printf "$cmd is not a built-in\n" >&2
return 1
fi
}
Using the Solution
Once you applied the aforementioned solution in the shell of your choice, you can use it like this...
At the command line:
$ isbuiltin command
If the command is a built-in, it prints nothing; otherwise, it prints a message to stderr.
Or you can use it like this in a script:
if isbuiltin $cmd 2> /dev/null
then
echo "$cmd is a built-in"
else
echo "$cmd is NOT a built-in"
fi