line(1) General Commands Manual line(1)
NAME
line - read one line from user input
SYNOPSIS
timeout]
DESCRIPTION
copies one line (up to a new-line) from the standard input and writes it on the standard output. It returns an exit code of 1 on EOF and
always prints at least a new-line. It is often used within shell files to read from the user's terminal.
Options
recognizes the following command-line option:
Timeout after
timeout seconds where timeout is an integer value (if a non-integer value is specified, it is converted to an integer;
i.e., rounded down). A blank is required between and the timeout argument. This option is not documented in POSIX and
other industry standards, and should not be used in portable applications.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
EXAMPLES
The following lines in a shell script prompt for a file name and display information about the file:
To limit the response time to 10 seconds, use the form:
then test for no response. If no response occurs before timeout expires, a default behavior should be provided.
WARNINGS
This command is likely to be withdrawn from X/Open standards. Applications using this command might not be portable to other vendors' sys-
tems. As an alternative is recommended.
SEE ALSO
sh(1), read(2).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
line(1)
