Shell Programming and Scripting

        
#!/bin/bash
#

##### Constants

FILENAME=
SAVEPATH=
TITLE="Hello $USER! Let's back something up!"
TIMESTAMP="$(date +"%m-%d-%Y")"
DIR_TREE="$(dir)"
SELECTION=
PWD="$(pwd)"

That is unnecessary; $PWD is always set to the current directory.

##### Functions

function dir_tree

The standard syntax for defining functions is:

Code:

dir_tree()
{
  : ...
}

You are comparing the input to a space, not to an empty string. Use:

Code:

if [ "$FILENAME" = "" ]

Or:

Code:

if [ -z "$FILENAME" ]

To check for a file:

Code:

if [ -f "$FILE" ]

To check for a directory:

Code:

if [ -d "$DIRECTORY" ]

I realize that... however, I'm learning how to write scripts. I like to implement what I already know into them as much as possible. think of it as practice...

Quote:

The standard syntax for defining functions is:

Code:

dir_tree()
{
  : ...
}

so, by this, do you mean i should:

Code:

dir_tree()
{
   : echo ""
   blah blah blah
}

or is the : just to show that input goes here?

and thanks for the help!

You don't learn by doing unnecessary things. Knowing what is necessary is part of learning.

dir_tree()
{
   : echo ""
   blah blah blah
}

That's where your function goes. Using your code, it would be:

Code:

dir_tree()
{
        echo "$TITLE"
        echo ""
        echo " You are here: $PWD"
        echo "These are the Files/Directories in $PWD"
        echo "$DIR_TREE"
}

good point... i'll take that into consideration next time.

Quote:

That's where your function goes. Using your code, it would be:

Code:

dir_tree()
{
        echo "$TITLE"
        echo ""
        echo " You are here: $PWD"
        echo "These are the Files/Directories in $PWD"
        echo "$DIR_TREE"
}