executing a text file one line at a time with bash?

mivison · 05-23-2009, 08:26 AM

i'm trying right a bash script so i can read a text file one line at a time to executed it with a music editor i have. here is an example of part of the script( i'm new at this script stuff). what am i doing wrong?

number=0
until [ $number -ge 100 ]; do
transcribe $(head -n $number save.txt | tail -n 1)&
number=$((number + 1))

pixellany · 05-23-2009, 08:40 AM

Without knowing what happens, it's pretty hard to say what's wrong.

Your are missing a "done" at the end of the "until--do" loop.

I assume that transcribe is an executable command---Does it work if you do this one line by itslef in a terminal?

colucix · 05-23-2009, 08:49 AM

I agree with pixellany: please tell us what does not work (error message, missing output, wrong output and so on).

pixellany · 05-23-2009, 08:54 AM

I think the "until" loop is OK.......

until number >= x

is the same as:

while number is < x

colucix · 05-23-2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany

I think the "until" loop is OK.......

until number >= x

is the same as:

while number is < x

Correct. I've already changed my post. Thx.

mivison · 05-23-2009, 09:11 AM

sorry about the lack of info. yes i do put do put "done" in there. what happens is i get an endless loop. it keeps executing the last line over and over again.

thanks for the quick replies guys!

colucix · 05-23-2009, 09:40 AM

That's really odd. What happen if you copy/paste and execute the following script?

Code:

#!/bin/bash
number=0
until [ $number -ge 100 ]
do
  echo $number
  ((number++))
done

You sure there is no typo in the increment statement, so that the variable "number" is not actually updated?

pixellany · 05-23-2009, 09:46 AM

This works:

Code:

!/bin/bash

number=0
until [[ $number -ge 20 ]]; do
        echo $number
        number=$(($number + 1))
done

Could it have something to do with the "&" at the end of the transcribe statement?

mivison · 05-23-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany

This works:

Code:

!/bin/bash

number=0
until [[ $number -ge 20 ]]; do
        echo $number
        number=$(($number + 1))
done

Could it have something to do with the "&" at the end of the transcribe statement?

if i don't use the "&", i have to execute them one at at a time by the pressing enter key. is there a way i could read how many lines are in the text file so i can put the sum in a variable?

mivison · 05-23-2009, 03:09 PM

either one of these work

transcribe $(sed -n -e '/1/,/100/p' save.txt) &

transcribe $(head -n100 save.txt) &

colucix · 05-23-2009, 03:43 PM

Have you tried the until loop with the echo command, in place of transcribe? What is the result?

mivison · 05-23-2009, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colucix

Have you tried the until loop with the echo command, in place of transcribe? What is the result?

yes i did and there seems to be a problem with that command on my eeepc. i am running puppy 4.20 on that netbook. i wonder what the problem could be?

pixellany · 05-23-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mivison

yes i did and there seems to be a problem with that command on my eeepc. i am running puppy 4.20 on that netbook. i wonder what the problem could be?

Again, you need to tell us WHAT problem.....

I recommend doing some tests with individual commands to confirm that they behave as expected. As soon as you find an anomaly, post exactly what happens.

chrism01 · 05-23-2009, 09:18 PM

It sounds like you have a list of records in save.txt that you want automatically processed, without human interaction:

Code:

IFS="
" # ie put a single <return> in between the quotes
for rec in `cat save.txt`   # backquotes, not single quotes
do
    nohup transcribe $rec &    # nohup plus & enables you to logout of this session without breaking it
done

gnashley · 05-24-2009, 12:54 AM

Quote:

running puppy 4.20 on that netbook

get a real Linux on there with rools that work like they are supposed to....