UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I do not know shell scripting. But at work place, I have got an in and out shell scripting task. I just need to understand a very big script. Is there any tool in which I can place the script and it can tell me the meaning of the whole script?

I doubt...
That said, a shell script is nothing more than commands you would normally type at prompt put in a file to be executed in batch mode...

I completely agree. I don't think there are any shorcuts like what you want, in order to learn (and I emphasize the word learn) shell scripting.
I would suggest you to take a look at The Linux Command Line, which I believe it's the best book to learn Linux and shell scripting from scratch. You can download it for free here (the latest edition was published a month ago).

Yes, there is: it is called "scripting learning device", or, by its old name, "book". I suggest you get one and start reading.

Make sure that you are learning the right shell, though. In the first line of the script there should be a "shebang" identifying the shell to use, for example:

Code:

#! /usr/bin/bash
<...rest of the script....>

Widespread alternatives to this would be "ksh" (Korn Shell) or "sh" (either Bourne shell or the systems default shell, whatever that may be).

Most of the syntax is the same in these shells (they are all derived from the Bourne shell) but in some details they are different.

I hope this helps.

bakunin