read scripts
 

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

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".

Other suggestions for reading system shell scripts.
 

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.

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.

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.