[SOLVED] Syntax error in Bash function 'Unexpected end of file'

PasBern · 03-08-2020, 04:04 AM

Hello all,

I found this Bash-function for quickly creating a backup of a file here: https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...to-backup-file

Put it in a separate file .bash_functions and sourcing it via my .bashrc

Code:

1 ##Functions
2
3 ##Create Backup of a File and append current Date and Time
4 bu () { 
5 for file in "$@" do
7        local new=${file}.$(date '+%Y-%m-%d_%H.%M.%S')
8       while [[ -f $new ]]; do
9            new+="~";
10        done
11       printf "copying '%s' to '%s'\n" "$file" "$new";
12        \cp -ip "$file" "$new";
13    done
14}
15
16 ##EOF

I have removed the semi-colons in line 5 and 10 ("$@"; do and done;) as apparently this does conform with today's Bash syntax any longer. My shell was complaining about a syntax error. I took this tutorial as a guide: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/bash-for-loop/

Now Bash complains about an unexpected end of file. As you can see, I am not an expert regarding Bash scripting.

Code:

bash: $'\r': Kommando nicht gefunden.
bash: /home/paisquy/.bash_functions: Zeile 17: Syntax Fehler: Unerwartetes Dateiende.

Thanks for your hints on how I can fix this issue and tell me what is wrong with the script. I find it bizarre that the shell is complaining about line 17 when there are only 16 lines in the file.

MadeInGermany · 03-08-2020, 05:44 AM

Before keywords like for do done there must be a newline or a semicolon.
Further, looking at your error message, you have inserted '\r' i.e. "carriage return" characters that happens if you edit it in Microsoft WinDOS. Remove these characters!

PasBern · 03-08-2020, 02:21 PM

Thanks very much for your hints.

For other viewers of this thread who might be looking for a solution to this problem, "carriage returns" can be easily removed with the following command

Code:

$ dos2unix FILE

To check whether there are any (invisible) carriage returns in a file type the following command in the VI editor, they will be displayed as $

Code:

:set list

ehartman · 03-08-2020, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PasBern

I have removed the semi-colons in line 5 and 10 ("$@"; do

The one in line 5 (before the "do") is needed and it being missing is the reason of your error message, the ones in lines 9 and 11 (at the end of the line) are not, they already have a newline after it.
But the keywords "do", "done" "then", "else", "fi" etc always need to be the first WORD on a line, or after a ; to concatenate two lines into one.

Quote:

Now Bash complains about an unexpected end of file.

That normally means it is missing some (reserved) keyword somewhere, in this case it didn't see the "do" in line 5. From the man page of bash

Quote:

for name [ [ in [ word ... ] ] ; ] do list ; done

so the (first) ; can only be omitted when NO "in" keyword is used.
Any ; can always be replaced by a newline, so when "do" or "done" are on its own lines, the preceding ; isn't needed anymore. like

Code:

for name [ in word ... ]
do list
done

Another quote from the man page

Quote:

Reserved words are words that have a special meaning to the shell. The following words are recognized as reserved when unquoted and either the first word of a simple command (see SHELL GRAMMAR below) or the third word of a case or for command:

! case do done elif else esac fi for function if in select then until while { } time [[ ]]

So in a "for" the "do" keyword is only recognized when the third word, but there already is an "in" there.

PS: I always put the "do" and the "done" on the same indent level in those cases, so you can see the enclosed block.