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# 1  
Old 03-05-2015
Help in function returns value
Hi,

I need to return a value from the function. the value will be the output from cat command which uses random fucntion.

Code:
#!/bin/ksh
hello()
{
 var1=$(`cat /dev/urandom| tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9-!%&()*+,-/:;<=>?_'|fold -w 10 | head -n 1`)
 echo "value is" var1
 return var1
}

hello
var=$?
echo 'value of var is' $var

It is not working.. could anyone please help me out ?

Regards,
Nantha.
Last edited by jim mcnamara; 03-05-2015 at 04:15 PM..
# 2  
Old 03-05-2015
Please use code tags as required by forum rules!

shells' return - unlike its cousins in laguages like awk - can't be used to give back arbitrary values to the caller:
Quote:
- return [ n ] Causes a shell function or . script to return to the invoking script with the exit status specified by n. The value will be the least significant 8 bits of the spec- ified status. If n is omitted, then the return status is that of the last command executed. If return is invoked while not in a function or a . script, then it behaves the same as exit.
Use global variables or assign a function's result to a variable using "command substitution".
# 3  
Old 03-05-2015
Regarding command substitution:
either use `command` or $(command). You shouldn't nest them.
The function simply prints to stdout.
Example:
Code:
hello(){
  < /dev/urandom tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9-!%&()*+,-/:;<=>?_' | fold -w 10 | head -n 1
}

var=$(hello)
#var=`hello`

---------- Post updated at 03:57 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:45 PM ----------

Global variables have the disadvantage that the calling code nust know the variables in the function.
Example:
Code:
hello(){
  hello_return=$(< /dev/urandom tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9-!%&()*+,-/:;<=>?_' | fold -w 10 | head -n 1)
}

hello
var=$hello_return

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