Is there already one bash command to do what the following script does (poorly or incompletely), ie repeat "command" indefinitely every "x" seconds:

#!/bin/sh
# usage: repeat [x] <command>
while true ; do $2 ; sleep $1 ; done


if not, and you want to use the above in a script of your own, just copy the above 3 lines and do the following (typing the lines into the console or pasting them in shell, using konsole under kde or gpm under a tty shell; hit <Ctrl-c> to stop it from looping). The two examples are optional. The stuff in angle brackets, <>, is stuff you won't see in your shell output:

am@[bin]$ cat >repeat
#!/bin/sh
# usage: repeat [x] <command>
while true ; do $2 ; sleep $1 ; done
am@[bin]$ chmod +x repeat
<examples>
am@[bin]$ ./repeat 2 "cat /proc/loadavg"
0.46 0.92 1.72 9/125 24171
0.46 0.92 1.72 2/125 24173
0.59 0.94 1.72 1/125 24181
<Ctrl-c>
am@[bin]$ cd ..
am@[~]$ repeat 2 uname
Linux
Linux
<Ctrl-c>

watch -n 2 "uname -a"

that's great to know about. thanks, tinkster.

but i really don't want to switch to full-screen mode as "watch" does.

PS: i hit the "Thanks" button, but don't have a cc, paypal or other to plug in the min $5

actually, to be more specific, what i'm trying to do is something like this --
though i'm screwing up on quoting or something

am@[~]$ repeat 2 "echo $(cat /proc/loadavg ; date +%H:%m:%S)"
0.05 0.14 0.24 6/127 27711 12:07:29
0.05 0.14 0.24 6/127 27711 12:07:29
0.05 0.14 0.24 6/127 27711 12:07:29

as you can see, only one instance of load average and time are repeated.
i want a running record that can be redirected to a file

my apologies, if necessary. but it's lunchtime in saigon and i'm STARVING

i'll check back later

thanx again

I worked out a cheap hack for what i wanted. But thanks all the same...

In case you're interested:

am@[sh]$ rewatch 2 'cat /proc/loadavg'
0.51 0.36 0.65 1/121 9072 09:56:08
0.51 0.36 0.65 1/121 9083 09:56:10
0.47 0.36 0.65 1/121 9088 09:56:13

am@[sh]$ rewatch 2 'cat /proc/loadavg' 'mozilla' | tee rewatch-mozilla
0.43 0.35 0.65 1/121 9100 09:56:20
am 32106 0.0 0.3 3832 988 ? S 07:37 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mozilla
am 32112 10.0 25.7 141688 66084 ? Sl 07:37 13:54 /opt/mozilla/lib/mozilla-bin
0.40 0.34 0.64 3/121 9109 09:56:22
am 32106 0.0 0.3 3832 988 ? S 07:37 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mozilla
am 32112 10.0 25.7 141688 66092 ? Sl 07:37 13:54 /opt/mozilla/lib/mozilla-bin

am@[sh]$ cat ~/bin/rewatch
#!/bin/sh
# rewatch, v. 0.01
#
# Usage: rewatch <n> <cmdline> [process-to-watch]
# n: seconds between repetitions
# cmdline: command-line to repeat
# process-to-watch: process for which "ps aux" info is to be displayed
#
# Purpose: repeat and, optionally, watch and record the "ps aux" info of
# that or any other process
#
# Bkgd: original purpose was to be able to input a command-line (in single
# quotes) along with an interval in seconds for its repetion and print a
# list of its stdouts labelled by the times they were printed until <Ctrl-c>
# is hit, and be able to capture all the output to stdout or a file.
#
# initial use was for watching and recording load averages as programs were
# loaded, eg, "re_watch 2 'cat /proc/loadavg' konqueror"
#
# Future: unknown
#
# Known Bugs: no input validation or user feedback for input errors
#
# Of course, bash operators will have to be properly quoted or escaped or
# not... -- which i still don't clearly understand

n=$1
cmdline=$2
proc2watch=$3

if test -z "$3"

then
while true ; do echo $( $cmdline && echo "$( date +%H:%M:%S )" ) ; sleep $n ; done

else

while true ; do echo $( $cmdline && echo "$( date +%H:%M:%S )" ) ; echo "$( ps aux | grep -vE "(rewatch |grep |tee )" | grep $proc2watch )" ; sleep $n ; done

fi
am@[sh]$