read scripts

alchem · 08-30-2005, 11:42 PM

Someone mentioned to me about making shell scripts and I wanted to read the ones on my distro (RH9).

As i attempt to shed some newbie skin i fin i'm typing find / -name ____ often and i'd like to write a script to speed up my learning while indulging my slackard ways.

Thanks

titopoquito · 08-31-2005, 05:45 AM

I think it would be easier to set an alias for this task (man alias). For writing bash scripts look at http://www.tldp.org/guides.html -- there is a guide called "Bash Guide for Beginners".

archtoad6 · 08-31-2005, 10:41 AM

A really laudable endeavor reading the system shell scripts.

Some other suggestions:

locate
Cruise /etc -- I like to use mc (Midnight Commander) for that:
Code:
```
mc /etc /etc
```

For a list of shell scripts in /etc:

Code:

# grep -RE '^#![[:space:]]*/bin/(ba)?sh' /etc/*   \
  |awk -F: '{print $1}'|less -S#20

To view them all in succession:

Code:

# less `grep -RE '^#![[:space:]]*/bin/(ba)?sh' /etc/* \
  |awk -F: '{print $1}'`

Notes

The '#' is to remind you to run these as root -- fewer errors & more access
Ignore all ":grep: ... No such file or directory" lines, they are going to stderr
RTfM on the things you don't understand here, it's a good opportunity to learn. less, grep, & awk are very useful tools, & I have deliberately not explained the options I used. (More chance for you to learn.)
Keep a good bash reference handy as you read the scripts.
If you want to look at other directories, change '/etc/*'.
EDIT: Broke long "Code" lines w/ '\\' to minimize horizontal scrolling. Be sure to re-assemble properly.

alchem · 08-31-2005, 11:22 AM

archtoad6,
thanks! i wont be able to try until later....
i tried to locate the script run from the 'more' command by using find / -name more, hoping this would lead me to the actual script and when i tried to open the 'script' with vi, as determined by the results of find, i got junk printed.
i guess the commands you posted somehow make the scripts into human language as opposed to the machine language these files are in.

archtoad6 · 08-31-2005, 11:42 AM

Scripts by definition are text files. You probably have been trying to look at binaries too.

BTW, after you are done w/ /etc/*, consider /bin/* & /sbin/*; they are mostly binaries, but there are a few scripts.

BTW2, the extension '.sh' is supposed to indicate a shell script, but is not mandatory. In *nix, file extensions are advisory only.