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Old 03-25-2010, 10:07 PM   #1
minsi
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how to use foreach in bash shell


Hi,

I used c-shell previously in unix. One of the useful command I used frequently is foreach.

> foreach a (`cat list`)
>> echo $a

I need to use bash shell now instead, and realized that I can't use foreach anymore. The command is not found.

Does anyone knows if there is similar command / function in bash shell?

Thanks for your help.
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:16 PM   #2
blacky_5251
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Code:
for a in $(cat list)
do
  echo $a
done
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:21 PM   #3
minsi
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Thanks for your reply, Ian

This is not something we can do on command line right? I'll need to put it in a bash script to use it?

For c-shell, I can use foreach in the command line itself.
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:22 PM   #4
GrapefruiTgirl
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Here's another way:

Code:
cat file | while read $line; do
  echo "$line"
done
or depending on exact context, this will work instead (I've yet to deliberately determine whether the above method or the below method is any better in any particular context):

Code:
while read line; do
  echo "$line"
done < file
Sasha

EDIT: And yes, you can do any of the aforementioned codes from blacky or myself, on the commandline.

Last edited by GrapefruiTgirl; 03-25-2010 at 10:23 PM.
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:22 PM   #5
blacky_5251
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No, you can use this on the command line as well. - that applies to both answers
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:31 PM   #6
minsi
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Thanks a lot for all your help. It works now
 
Old 03-25-2010, 10:31 PM   #7
blacky_5251
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There are times when you need to use the second approach. If "cat file" produces space separated values for each line/record of the file (e.g. several words in a sentence), then the first "for/do/done" approach that I suggested will receive each "word" as a unique value of $a. If you want each "line" of the file to be processed in entirety, then my suggestion is not the answer for you and you should use the while/read approach.
 
Old 03-26-2010, 12:52 AM   #8
minsi
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Thanks for the extra info. I'll keep that in mind
 
Old 03-26-2010, 01:32 AM   #9
catkin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrapefruiTgirl View Post
Here's another way:

Code:
cat file | while read $line; do
  echo "$line"
done
or depending on exact context, this will work instead (I've yet to deliberately determine whether the above method or the below method is any better in any particular context):

Code:
while read line; do
  echo "$line"
done < file
Hello Sasha

The great advantage of the second method is that any variables set in the loop will still be set when the loop finishes. Full explanation here.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 03-26-2010, 01:34 AM   #10
GrapefruiTgirl
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Catkin -- thank you very much for that! Exactly what I had been wondering, and precisely the issue I have experienced on occasion: variables acting weirdly "local" to the loop (I think we chatted about this elsewhere at one point?)

Thanks!!

And: EDIT: http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/sh/sh.1.html#20 << for the non-bash shell equivalent (a bit more convoluted)

Sasha

Last edited by GrapefruiTgirl; 03-26-2010 at 01:36 AM. Reason: typo
 
  


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