LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] [bash] code wont work

- Programming (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/programming-9/)

- - [bash] code wont work - here document (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/programming-9/%5Bbash%5D-code-wont-work-here-document-747742/)

[bash] code wont work - here document

Hi guys,

reading advanced bash scripting, I found this example:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

# self-document.sh: self-documenting script

# Modification of "colm.sh".



DOC_REQUEST=70



if [ "$1" = "-h"  -o "$1" = "--help" ]    # Request help.

then

  echo; echo "Usage: $0 [directory-name]"; echo

  sed --silent -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX$/,/^DOCUMENTATIONXX$/p' "$0" |

  sed -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX$/d'; exit $DOC_REQUEST; fi





: <<DOCUMENTATIONXX

List the statistics of a specified directory in tabular format.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The command-line parameter gives the directory to be listed.

If no directory specified or directory specified cannot be read,

then list the current working directory.



DOCUMENTATIONXX



if [ -z "$1" -o ! -r "$1" ]

then

  directory=.

else

  directory="$1"

fi  



echo "Listing of "$directory":"; echo

(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \

; ls -l "$directory" | sed 1d) | column -t



exit 0

I made my own based on this one and it didnt work, now that i copy pasted this one and tried it also doesnt work.

Can you tell me why?

actually if you paste this in to bash:

Code:

echo "Listing of "$directory":"; echo

(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \

; ls -l "$directory" | sed 1d) | column -t

it works fine, but when i run test.sh (which contains the whole code) it simply gives me the $ again without doing anything.

Any info would be appreciated, since the code looks logically correct.

Works for me (with columns misaligned because of different ls -l output).

Does it run at all? Try

Code:

#!/bin/bash

set -xv

<rest of script>

Code:

#!/bin/bash

echo 'Hello!'

<rest of script>

after running test.sh

I get

Code:

[~] echo $?

1

so it is not working, the thing is that i do not understand why...

Quote:

Originally Posted by catkin (Post 3644311)

Works for me (with columns misaligned because of different ls -l output).

Does it run at all? Try

Code:

#!/bin/bash

set -xv

<rest of script>

Code:

#!/bin/bash

echo 'Hello!'

<rest of script>

same results

When you added the "set -xv" to the script and reran it, did it still just produce the prompt and no output?

Mine produced:

Code:

[tommy@athlonz ~]$ ./test.sh

# self-document.sh: self-documenting script

# Modification of "colm.sh".



DOC_REQUEST=70

+ DOC_REQUEST=70



if [ "$1" = "-h"  -o "$1" = "--help" ]    # Request help.

then

  echo; echo "Usage: $0 [directory-name]"; echo

  sed --silent -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX$/,/^DOCUMENTATIONXX$/p' "$0" |

  sed -e '/DOCUMENTATIONXX$/d'; exit $DOC_REQUEST; fi

+ '[' '' = -h -o '' = --help ']'





: <<DOCUMENTATIONXX

List the statistics of a specified directory in tabular format.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The command-line parameter gives the directory to be listed.

If no directory specified or directory specified cannot be read,

then list the current working directory.



DOCUMENTATIONXX

+ :



if [ -z "$1" -o ! -r "$1" ]

then

  directory=.

else

  directory="$1"

fi  

+ '[' -z '' -o '!' -r '' ']'

+ directory=.



echo "Listing of "$directory":"; echo

+ echo 'Listing of .:'

Listing of .:

+ echo



(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \

; ls -l "$directory" | sed 1d) | column -t

+ printf 'PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n'

+ sed 1d

+ ls -l .

+ column -t

PERMISSIONS  LINKS  OWNER  GROUP  SIZE        MONTH      DAY    HH:MM          PROG-NAME

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Desktop

drwxr-xr-x  6      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-05-08  09:50  Documents

drwxr-xr-x  3      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-04-10  11:16  Download

drwxr-xr-x  2      root  root  4096        2009-03-11  22:58  getdev

drwxr-xr-x  2      root  root  4096        2009-05-10  20:20  lost

drwxr-xr-x  2      root  root  4096        2009-05-08  00:01  malloctest

-rw-r--r--  1      root  root  1183081233  2009-06-15  17:09  mem_stats.txt

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Music

drwx------  3      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-04-05  00:23  Network        Trash      Folder

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Pictures

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Public

-rwxr-xr-x  1      root  root  1440        2009-03-11  23:06  set_authkey.sh

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Templates

drwx------  3      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-04-05  00:23  Temporary      Items

-rwxrwxr-x  1      tommy  tommy  917        2009-08-15  10:13  test.sh

drwxr-xr-x  2      tommy  tommy  4096        2009-03-24  01:06  Videos



exit 0

+ exit 0

[tommy@athlonz ~]$

If it produced any output, please cut-and-paste it.

Not an answer to your question, but a common alternative to your example is to use the cat command rather than the sed command. With that change, your sample code would look like this:

PHP Code:




#!/bin/bash 
# self-document.sh: self-documenting script 
# Modification of "colm.sh". 
 
DOC_REQUEST=70 
 
if [ "$1" = "-h"  -o "$1" = "--help" ]     # Request help. 
then 
  echo; echo "Usage: $0 [directory-name]"; echo 
cat <<DOCUMENTATIONXX 
List the statistics of a specified directory in tabular format. 
--------------------------------------------------------------- 
The command-line parameter gives the directory to be listed. 
If no directory specified or directory specified cannot be read, 
then list the current working directory. 
 
DOCUMENTATIONXX 
exit $DOC_REQUEST 
fi 
 
if [ -z "$1" -o ! -r "$1" ] 
then 
  directory=. 
else 
  directory="$1" 
fi   
 
echo "Listing of "$directory":"; echo 
(printf "PERMISSIONS LINKS OWNER GROUP SIZE MONTH DAY HH:MM PROG-NAME\n" \ 
; ls -l "$directory" | sed 1d) | column -t 
 
exit 0

@tommylovell

Everything went exactly the same... no output from the script and a new line with a prompt.

I was noticing that when i pasted the code all the expanded variables where missing ("$1" was showing up like "".). I do not know why, after I inserted all variables everything worked as you mentioned.

@PTrenholme

Thanks for the idea, I tried it and it works perfectly!