I'm trying to write a shell script to do the following job:

Do a for loop in list.10 by iperf-ing (A Linux command, and you can try any command like traceroute if you don't have this installed) each host and then check the result of that iperf-ing. If it's an empty file (report is not correct), do iperf-ing again. The file will be incorrect if doesn't have % sign.

Note: I check whether the file is empty or not by:

1- sed -n '/%/p' $loop.iperf-udp-4 > $loop.sed (print the specific line I'm looking for)
2- du -h $loop.sed > $loop.size (check the size of result from sed)
3- awk '{if ($1 == 0); c=1}' $loop.size; (if size is 0 do iperf-ing again)

Here is the script I'm trying to use:

for loop in `cat list.10`; do echo "+ Inner loop: $loop"; ./iperf -c $loop -u -b 4M > $loop.iperf-udp-4; sed -n '/%/p' $loop.iperf-udp-4 > $loop.sed; du -h $loop.sed > $loop.size; awk '{if ($1 == 0); c=1}' $loop.size; if ($c == 1); ./iperf -c $loop -u -b 4M > $loop.iperf-udp-4; done'; done

Error I got:
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

I will appreciate any help on that or any better suggestion

Do not post your homework !
that is for YOU to do .

That error looks a bit small ,as in not the FULL error .

1 members found this post helpful.

I'm sorry, but I am not going to help directly with this. However, the indirect help that I think you need, in the first instance, is to point out that if you make your thread easy to read, people are more likely to reply in a way that helps more directly.

We haven't seen what other questions you have been asked; is list.10 some file from a previous question, or is it the file you are being asked to use for this example? We don't know. It doesn't seem to be the file that you mention in the next section.

code is easier to read if you use the 'code' tag (#) - it uses a fixed width font, it is different from the normal text font, and it keeps whitespace intact, and all of those are important in humans reading code, eg

and the next is just unreadable in its original form

You might have an idea what was going on, if the code had been readable...all of those semicolons and that one extended line is a pain in the eyes. (Actually, even with the quote tags, you get the long line and the 'elevator' and even that is more readable than the 'straight text' version; the code tags version is better, and splitting into individual commands is better, for readability.)

Anyway, the error message tells you that there was a problem near a '('. Usually, this happens when something is wrong with the syntax of previous instruction, and the interpreter is 'surprised' to see a '(' come up, when it was expecting the end of the previous instruction.

I am not a great bash coder at all and stumbling through that code, the only thing I saw was two "done" code segments without two matching "do" segments.
It is sometimes the simple stuff that gets overlooked.

What HW are you talking about? You should not through your words left and right because you don't know people you are talking to. Either give your help or be quiet.

0 members found this post helpful.

I think what was being implied here, is that the way you chose to word your question sure does sound like an assignment. Specifically:


It looks a lot like a test question or textbook excerpt and if people where to do your homework for you, How would you learn?


Try this link: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bash%3A+syntax+...+token+%60(%27 ... I found the answer there, so I know it can't be that hard. Good luck.

I don't know what this was intended to mean, about the 'words left and right', but it doesn't make much sense.

It is interesting that you feel able to give people instructions on what they can and cannot do, in response to your question, but do not feel any necessity to obey the rules for this site. Oddly, this happens quite a lot, and it always ends this way, which, assuming that you wanted help, is not a constructive way for a thread to go.

Obviously, when people stick to the rules, this non-constructive progression really doesn't happen. There are reasons that the rules for the site are the way they are, and it actually helps get an answer, if you obey them. On the other hand, if what you wanted was an argument, rather than an answer, the approach you have taken works fine (until a mod decides to take an interest, that is).

Splitting your script into multiple lines makes it easier to read, and helps to narrow down where the potential issues are.

Please use code tags around code (as others have suggested) but also it is advisable not to try to write one long string as this makes troubleshooting extreemly difficult.

When written this way, I would suggest you look at the if statement first.

1 members found this post helpful.

Please, take it easy. Indeed, the way you've posted your question resembles a kind of homework. If not you can easily explain it, without addressing other members in a rude way.
The same warning to avoid rudeness applies here. Please John, grant the benefit of the doubt and kindly ask for further clarification if you wish. Thank you.

1 members found this post helpful.

I would do away with the du -h and awk commands entirely, and I am not sure why you are forcing iperf to only run from the current working directory (this should be in /usr/bin)

If you replace:
with:
You remove a lot of unneccessary complication, and fix your use of if which I still believe is the main issue you have been experiencing.