Sponsored Content
Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting ksh "getopts" -- Unsetting an Option Post 302841541 by Matt Miller on Wednesday 7th of August 2013 01:28:03 PM
Old 08-07-2013
ksh "getopts" -- Unsetting an Option

I use the "getopts" ksh built-in to handle command-line options, and I'm looking for a clean/standard way to "unset" an option on the command line. I don't know if this is a technical question about getopts or more of a style/standards question. Anyway, I understand that getopts processes its args (by default $*) from left to right, and I'm hoping to use that to allow a second specification of an option to "turn off" an option.

For options that take an option argument, this isn't a problem. In my getopts processing case statement I just say, for the "-x" option, for example:
Code:
x ) x_arg=$OPTARG
    ;;

and the last instance of "-x" on the command line wins, which is what I want.

The problem comes in with options that don't take an option argument. If the option is just a switch/flag then my case statement would just have something like:
Code:
x ) x_specified=1
    ;;

Now, the second time "-x" is seen on the command line the same thing just happens, and "x_specified=1" is executed again. What's the best/easiest/simplest/standardest way to "unset x_specified"? That's my question.

I had hoped to invoke the getopts functionality that allows either "+" or "-" to precede option letters, but it seems there's no way to tell within the getopts processing loop whether "+" or "-" was used. If there were a way to tell then I could adopt that standard that "+" means to turn off the setting. The other thing I could do is something like:
Code:
x ) if [[ -z $x_specified ]] ; then
        x_specified=1
    else
        unset x_specified
    fi
    ;;

Now the "-x" option would be a toggle; each time it's seen on the command line the setting changes. However, I'd like a way on the command line to say, "turn off the -x setting," and not just "toggle the -x setting." I could also pick some other letter, e.g. "X", as the way to turn it off, but many of my scripts already use both the upper case and lower case versions of the same letter to mean different things, and if I have to pick some other random letter to mean "turn off -x" then that's not very mnemonic, and my scripts are hard enough to learn how to use already.

Finally, you may say, "If you want -x off on the command line, why are you turning it on in the first place?" Option processing in my scripts goes through a multi-step process. Command-line options are checked, and also a config file is checked for options, and there's a precedence between the two. This all works fine for options that take an option argument, but the scheme falls apart for options that don't.
 

9 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Shell Programming and Scripting

getopts and "priority level" for args

Hi, I use getopts in this way:while getopts ":d:f:crapv" Option do case $Option in d ) BACKUP_DIR="$OPTARG";echo $BACKUP_DIR;; #echo fot test c ) compress_file;; r ) remove_file;; a ) remove_file && compress_file;;... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: mbarberis
2 Replies

2. HP-UX

script running with "ksh" dumping core but not with "sh"

Hi, I have small script written in korn shell. When it is called from different script, its dumping core, but no core dump when we run it standalone. And its not dumping core if we run the script using "/bin/sh" instead of "ksh" Can some body please help me how to resolve this issue. ... (9 Replies)
Discussion started by: simhe02
9 Replies

3. Shell Programming and Scripting

read -p "prompt text" foo say "read: bad option(s)" in Bourne-Shell

Hallo, i need a Prompting read in my script: read -p "Enter your command: " command But i always get this Error: -p: is not an identifier When I run these in c-shell i get this error /usr/bin/read: read: bad option(s) How can I use a Prompt in the read command? (9 Replies)
Discussion started by: wiseguy
9 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

"#!/bin/ksh -f" What does the -f option do?

What does "-f" option do? This is at the start of a shell scripts to point to full path to the interpreter such as /bin/ksh What does the -f option do? #!/bin/ksh -f (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: Arsenalman
3 Replies

5. Shell Programming and Scripting

awk command to replace ";" with "|" and ""|" at diferent places in line of file

Hi, I have line in input file as below: 3G_CENTRAL;INDONESIA_(M)_TELKOMSEL;SPECIAL_WORLD_GRP_7_FA_2_TELKOMSEL My expected output for line in the file must be : "1-Radon1-cMOC_deg"|"LDIndex"|"3G_CENTRAL|INDONESIA_(M)_TELKOMSEL"|LAST|"SPECIAL_WORLD_GRP_7_FA_2_TELKOMSEL" Can someone... (7 Replies)
Discussion started by: shis100
7 Replies

6. Shell Programming and Scripting

Purpose of "read" and "$END$" in ksh ?

Hi, Could anyone please shed some light on the following script lines and what is it doing as it was written by an ex-administrator? cat $AMS/version|read a b verno d DBVer=$(/usr/bin/printf "%7s" $verno) I checked that the cat $AMS/version command returns following output: ... (10 Replies)
Discussion started by: dbadmin100
10 Replies

7. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

What is the meaning of "-s" option in "if" statement?

Hi Guys, I'm sorry but I can't find answer for this, what is the meaning of -s option in "if" statement on unix scipting. Please see sample below: opath=/home/output for i in N1 N2 N3 N4 do echo $i if then grep $i $opath/N5_CRAI > $opath/N5_$i.crai chmod 777 $opath/N5_$i.crai ... (7 Replies)
Discussion started by: rymnd_12345
7 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

ksh - default value for getopts option's argument

Hello everyone, I need help in understanding the default value for getopts option's argument in ksh. I've written a short test script: #!/bin/ksh usage(){ printf "Usage: -v and -m are mandatory\n\n" } while getopts ":v#m:" opt; do case $opt in v) version="$OPTARG";; ... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: da1
1 Replies

9. Shell Programming and Scripting

Bash script - Print an ascii file using specific font "Latin Modern Mono 12" "regular" "9"

Hello. System : opensuse leap 42.3 I have a bash script that build a text file. I would like the last command doing : print_cmd -o page-left=43 -o page-right=22 -o page-top=28 -o page-bottom=43 -o font=LatinModernMono12:regular:9 some_file.txt where : print_cmd ::= some printing... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: jcdole
1 Replies
shell_builtins(1)														 shell_builtins(1)

NAME
shell_builtins, case, for, foreach, function, if, repeat, select, switch, until, while - shell command interpreter built-in commands The shell command interpreters csh(1), ksh(1), and sh(1) have special built-in commands. The commands case, for, foreach, function, if, repeat, select, switch, until, and while are commands in the syntax recognized by the shells. They are described in the Commands section of the manual pages of the respective shells. The remaining commands listed in the table below are built into the shells for reasons such as efficiency or data sharing between command invocations. They are described on their respective manual pages. | Command | Shell alias |csh, ksh bg |csh, ksh, sh break |csh, ksh, sh case |csh, ksh, sh cd |csh, ksh, sh chdir |csh, sh continue |csh, ksh, sh dirs |csh echo |csh, ksh, sh eval |csh, ksh, sh exec |csh, ksh, sh exit |csh, ksh, sh export |ksh, sh false |ksh fc |ksh fg |csh, ksh, sh for |ksh, sh foreach |csh function |ksh getopts |ksh, sh glob |csh goto |csh hash |ksh, sh hashstat |csh history |csh if |csh, ksh, sh jobs |csh, ksh, sh kill |csh, ksh, sh let |ksh limit |csh login |csh, ksh, sh logout |csh, ksh, sh nice |csh newgrp |ksh, sh nohup |csh notify |csh onintr |csh popd |csh print |ksh pushd |csh pwd |ksh, sh read |ksh, sh readonly |ksh, sh rehash |csh repeat |csh return |ksh, sh select |ksh set |csh, ksh, sh setenv |csh shift |csh, ksh, sh source |csh stop |csh, ksh, sh suspend |csh, ksh, sh switch |csh test |ksh, sh time |csh times |ksh, sh trap |ksh, sh true |ksh type |ksh, sh typeset |ksh ulimit |ksh, sh umask |csh, ksh, sh unalias |csh, ksh unhash |csh unlimit |csh unset |csh, ksh, sh unsetenv |csh until |ksh, sh wait |csh, ksh, sh whence |ksh while |csh, ksh, sh Bourne Shell, sh, Special Commands Input/output redirection is now permitted for these commands. File descriptor 1 is the default output location. When Job Control is enabled, additional Special Commands are added to the shell's environment. In addition to these built-in reserved command words, sh also uses: : No effect; the command does nothing. A zero exit code is returned. .filename Read and execute commands from filename and return. The search path specified by PATH is used to find the directory con- taining filename. C shell, csh Built-in commands are executed within the C shell. If a built-in command occurs as any component of a pipeline except the last, it is exe- cuted in a subshell. In addition to these built-in reserved command words, csh also uses: : Null command. This command is interpreted, but performs no action. Korn Shell, ksh, Special Commands Input/Output redirection is permitted. Unless otherwise indicated, the output is written on file descriptor 1 and the exit status, when there is no syntax error, is zero. Commands that are preceded by one or two * (asterisks) are treated specially in the following ways: 1. Variable assignment lists preceding the command remain in effect when the command completes. 2. I/O redirections are processed after variable assignments. 3. Errors cause a script that contains them to abort. 4. Words, following a command preceded by ** that are in the format of a variable assignment, are expanded with the same rules as a vari- able assignment. This means that tilde substitution is performed after the = sign and word splitting and file name generation are not performed. In addition to these built-in reserved command words, ksh also uses: * : [ arg ... ] The command only expands parameters. * .file [ arg ..Read the complete file then execute the commands. The commands are executed in the current shell environment. The search path specified by PATH is used to find the directory containing file. If any arguments arg are given, they become the posi- tional parameters. Otherwise, the positional parameters are unchanged. The exit status is the exit status of the last com- mand executed. the loop termination test. intro(1), alias(1), break(1), cd(1), chmod(1), csh(1), echo(1), exec(1), exit(1), find(1), getoptcvt(1), getopts(1), glob(1), hash(1), his- tory(1), jobs(1), kill(1), ksh(1), let(1), limit(1), login(1), logout(1), newgrp(1), nice(1), nohup(1), print(1), pwd(1), read(1), read- only(1), set(1), sh(1), shift(1), suspend(1), test(1B), time(1), times(1), trap(1), typeset(1), umask(1), wait(1), chdir(2), chmod(2), creat(2), umask(2), getopt(3C), profile(4), environ(5) 29 Jun 2005 shell_builtins(1)
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:58 PM.
Unix & Linux Forums Content Copyright 1993-2022. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy