How to Write & Call Functions Within Shell Scripts

All:

I have a script like the following:


ABCfunction()
{
if [ SomeConditionIsTrue ]
then
echo "1"
else
echo "0"
fi
}

parameter="Cool"
flag=`ABCfunction $parameter`

I don't know why but the function call doesn't work. I hence wanted to verify with you guys whether I am on the right track (also, a basic question: in linux scripting we return values using echo command right? )

Looking forward for some help!

Thanks in advance!

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prog-Intro-HOWTO-8.html - search google for "bash functions"

echo just prints stuff to screen, the values your talking about are likely to be stored inside a variable and then you echo the variable
echo $flag
in your case...

hope it helps

Thanks helptonewbie!

You are right. A function can return values using 'return' (which is used for returning the exit values) or 'echo' (this is for the command line) or directly altering what you have in the script already.

If I want a variable's value to be altered through a function, I first initiate its value in the script and then call the function. Inside the function, I just assign the value to the variable. And I am done!

Example:

ABCfunction()
{
if [ thisconditionistrue ]
then
a=5
else
a=10
fi
}

#Main Script
a=-1
parameter=Cool
ABCfunction $parameter

Reference: http://steve-parker.org/sh/functions.shtml