[SOLVED] BASH HowTo: exit script cleanly after x number of seconds(minutes,hours,days,etc)

Andy Alt · 02-26-2014, 12:43 AM

As it is, this script is designed to exit cleanly after x number of seconds. The x is given as the first and only argument at run-time. I'm sure it would be quite easy for an experienced prog'ger to modify it so it would be more flexible (minutes, hours, days.. can't be specified; only seconds). I don't know if anyone would find this script useful so I'll post it here for review or modification if anyone finds interest in it.

The primary purpose of this script would be to run a command (or series of commands) that execute in under a few seconds. And then loop.

The 3 lines I'm executing are not important (shown in comments).

Warning: there's no error checking in this script.

Code:

#!/bin/bash

function get_cur_sec() {
	date +%s
}

# How long the script should run for. 
duration=$1
CURSEC=`get_cur_sec`
quitpoint=`expr $CURSEC + $duration`

# 3 lines below for debugging
#echo $quitpoint
#echo $CURSEC
#exit 0;

while [ $CURSEC -lt $quitpoint ];
	do 
	
	# The 3 lines below should be replaced with commands
	# you'd like executed.
	echo -e "MotionNotify 1128 286" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	echo -e "ButtonPress 1" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	echo -e "ButtonRelease 1" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	
	# the 2 lines below are for debugging
	echo $quitpoint
	echo $CURSEC
	
	# sleep value can be customized
	sleep 2s

	CURSEC=`get_cur_sec`
done

exit 0;

grail · 02-26-2014, 12:56 AM

I am not sure I understand the point of the script?
Also, could you not just use cron?

Andy Alt · 02-26-2014, 03:51 PM

I don't think cron would have been appropriate in my case.
The 3 commands I'm executing in this script simply deletes many tags from an extremely long list on my wordpress reader dashboard. It clicks an "X" over and over again in the same area every 2 seconds.

I know another method of doing what this script does is schedule a kill command with at or cron, but a script with a "built-in kill switch" just seemed a little cleaner, and of course more fun (to code).

szboardstretcher · 02-26-2014, 04:02 PM

Wow. Very nice script.

Here is my way of doing the same thing:

Code:

#script.sh
while true;
	do 
	echo -e "MotionNotify 1128 286" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	echo -e "ButtonPress 1" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	echo -e "ButtonRelease 1" | /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0
	sleep 2s
done

Code:

[root]# timeout 6000s ./script.sh

Andy Alt · 02-27-2014, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by szboardstretcher

Code:

[root]# timeout 6000s ./script.sh

Cool, I didn't know about the 'timeout' command.

But I was trying to think of a way that I could 'kill' the script without killing or interrupting any child processes.