shell script

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 12:20 PM

Hi,

I'm sure this is possible as this is a very basic programming technique.
What I'm after is a while loop with multiple conditions - or (||) between the conditions.
Something like this:

while [ "$value" != "val1" || "$value" != "val2" || "$value" != "val3" ]

Obviously the above format doesn't work and I can't find one that will.

Thanks.

druuna · 12-10-2005, 12:53 PM

Hi,

Code:

while [[ "$value" != "val1" || "$value" != "val2" || "$value" != "val3" ]]
do
  <your code goes here>
done

The above will do what you want, you need to use double square brackets instead of single brackets.

Are you aware that using OR's (||) and NOT's (!=) like this in a while loop could cause some problems getting out of the loop? An exit or break is needed.

Hope this helps.

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 12:59 PM

thanks. that helps a lot.

i haven't tried it yet but I'm not aware of "problems" in getting out of the loop if I'll do it this way.
Will the loop continue even when none of the conditions is true? Is there a different way I can do it to avoid the problems?

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 01:08 PM

I tried it an you are right.
Even though none of the conditions is true the loop kept going.

Any way to overcome this?

druuna · 12-10-2005, 01:09 PM

Hi again,

Once you enter the loop, you cannot leave it if you depend on the content of the value variable (the while statement will always be true). This isn't a bad thing per se, it depends on what you want to do.

Without knowing what it is you are trying to do it's kinda hard to give advise on how to proceed. And like I stated before, it could be that this is the correct sollution to your problem.

Using break will get you out of this the loop.

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 01:15 PM

Yes, break will do the trick.
What I'm trying to do is to read a value from the user but I want to restrict him to 3 values only.
So inside the loop i have the 3 values as i stated beore and inside the loop i have the read command
(read value).

do u think break is my only option?

druuna · 12-10-2005, 01:46 PM

I'm still not sure what it is you try to do:

- Is the user limited to 3 attempts (as in: 3 guesses to get the number between 0 and 10)?

If this is the case you could use a counter:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

counter=0

while [ $counter -lt 3 ]
do
  # other code goes here
  echo $counter
  # other code ends here

  let counter=counter+1
done

- Is the user limited to 3 input values (as in: give 3 numbers)?

Using read is an option, just call it 3 times:

Code:

#/bin/bash
read val1
read val2
read val3

echo $val1
echo $val2
echo $val3

If the above is not what you want to do: try explaining again

Hope this helps.

ntubski · 12-10-2005, 02:00 PM

I think what the OP is trying to do, is limit the user input to 3 "good" values.
ie: after the loop has exited value should be either val1, val2, or val3.

Did I get that right?

If so, use && instead of ||.

druuna · 12-10-2005, 02:17 PM

@ntubski:

If you are correct then == should be used instead of != and || should stay.......

One value can not have three different values at the same time (arrays not included).

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 02:41 PM

almost there.

the user need to enter a value but he has to choose one out of three.
My loop will ensure that if he hasn't entered one of those three then he will have to try again and again until he will enter one of those three.

while [ "$value" != "val1" || "$value" != "val2" || "$value" != "val3" ]
do
read value
done

ntubski · 12-10-2005, 03:26 PM

Code:

while [[ "$value" != "val1" && "$value" != "val2" && "$value" != "val3" ]]
do
#you might add a prompt here 
read value
done

@drunna

I think I didn't explain myself clearly enough, but anyway I meant what ronsha is asking for.

Maybe I should of said after loop exits value can be val1 XOR val2 XOR val3

druuna · 12-10-2005, 03:31 PM

@ntubski

I indeed misunderstood. The above code works nicely.

@ronsha

I also think that ntubski's code does what you want.

ronsha · 12-10-2005, 03:55 PM

This indeed solved my problem.

Thanks everyone. I was so focused on syntax that I completley forgot to check my logic (&& instead of ||).

Thanks everyone for your help.

keefaz · 12-10-2005, 04:08 PM

You can also use select, if the user has to choose between val1, val2 and val3

Code:

PS3="Choose your value : "
select value in val1 val2 val3; do
    case $value in
        val1) echo val1 selected; break;;
        val2) echo val2 selected; break;;
        val3) echo val3 selected; break;;
    esac
done