Setting Up an Interactive Section within a Shell Script

kaplan71 · 09-02-2008, 10:50 AM

Hi there --

I want to add an interactive section within a shell script where a pause will occur to allow the user to either hit the 'y' key to continue onto the next section, or the 'n' key to stop and exit from the script. The code that has been written thus far is shown below

Code:

#!/bin/bash

# This script will activate the local e-mail client for the
# user in order to facilitate the transfer of any screengrab
# to an e-mail account and/or PC.

# Display the following message on-screen prior to starting
# the e-mail application.

echo
echo
echo    ----------------------------------------------------
echo    Screengrab transfer utility 
echo    ----------------------------------------------------
echo
echo 	If there are any questions or concerns,
echo 	please contact the system administrator.
echo
echo
echo
echo    Press any key to continue...

Can someone provide me with the correct syntax to complete this task? Thanks.

keefaz · 09-02-2008, 11:32 AM

I would do it this way:

Code:

old=$(stty -g)
stty -icanon

echo -n "Continue? [y/n]: "
while a=$(head -c1); do
    case $a in
        y)
          echo
          break;
          ;;
        n) 
          echo 
          echo "Canceled by user"
          exit
          ;;
        *)
          echo
          echo "Please hit only y or n key"
          echo -n "Continue? [y/n]: "
          ;;
    esac
done
stty $old
echo "Ok, next section..."

kaplan71 · 09-02-2008, 12:29 PM

Hi there --

Thanks for your reply. I implemented your suggestion, and it worked great.

Much obliged to you.