Hello all,
I am new to unix and i am having probelms. If anyone could help. I am trying to input numbers from a file called data.file The problem i am having is I can input the file but when I hit enter to get the answer onto my output file i get a error message (standard_in) 1: parse error. My script looks like so. It in for converting Centigrade temperature into Fahrenheit or vise versa.

I can just enter on number like 32 and then go to ans.file and it shows the answer of this. Which is how it is supposed to look but i cannot enter more than one number or a file.

 Fahrenheit Temperature        Centigrade Temperature
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _           _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
   
            32                                      0
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _           _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
 
#!/bin/sh
print_dash_line()
{
#sub function to print dashes
echo "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _        _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "
}
#***** Start of Main Program *****
#***** Assign Variables
input_file=data.file
output_file=ans.file
# formula ft=(9/5)*ct+32
# formula ct=(5/9)*(ft-32)
echo "1. Convert Centigrade temperature into Fahrenheit"
echo "2. Convert Fahrenheit temperature into Centigrade"
echo -n "Select your choice (1-2) : "
read choice
if [ $choice -eq 1 ]
then
   echo -n "Enter Centigrade Temperature : "
   set `cat $input_file`
   echo $1 $2 $3 $4
   read ct
   ft=$(echo "scale=2;((9/5) * $ct) + 32" |bc)
   echo " Centigrade Temperature        Fahrenheit Temperature " > $output_file
   print_dash_line  >> $output_file
   echo >> $output_file
   echo "          $ct                           $ft " >> $output_file
   print_dash_line >> $output_file
elif [ $choice -eq 2 ]
then
   echo -n "Enter Fahrenheit Temperature : "
   set `cat $input_file`
   echo $1 $2 $3 $4
   read ft
   ct=$(echo "scale=2; (5/9)*($ft-32)" |bc)
   echo " Fahrenheit Temperature        Centigrade Temperature " > $output_file
   print_dash_line  >> $output_file
   echo >> $output_file
   echo "          $ft                          $ct " >> $output_file
   print_dash_line >> $output_file
else
    echo "Please select 1 or 2"
    exit l
fi

To read data from a file a line at a time and process them you need something like:

while read DATA; do
  echo DATA = ${DATA}
done < ${input_file}

Tony,

I tried this and it gives me the same problem. And also will not put it in the output file.

input_file=data.file
output_file=ans.file

echo "1. Convert Centigrade temperature into Fahrenheit"
echo "2. Convert Fahrenheit temperature into Centigrade"
echo -n "Select your choice (1-2) : "
read choice;
if [ $choice -eq 1 ]
then
   echo -n "Enter Centigrade Temperature : "
   echo " Centigrade Temperature        Fahrenheit Temperature " > ${output_file}
   print_dash_line  >> ${output_file}
   while read ct
   do
        ft=100;# change it to the formula
        echo "          $ct                           $ft " >> $output_file
        print_dash_line >> $output_file
   done < ${input_file}
....