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>Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide: An in-depth exploration of the art of shell scripting</TH
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><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="ASSORTEDTIPS"
></A
>36.7. Assorted Tips</H1
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN20460"
></A
>36.7.1. Ideas for more powerful scripts</H2
><UL
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="PSEUDOCODEREF"
></A
></P
><P
>You have a problem that you want to solve by writing a Bash
	     script. Unfortunately, you don't know quite where to start.
	     One method is to plunge right in and code those parts
	     of the script that come easily, and write the hard parts as
	     <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>pseudo-code</I
>.</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;ARGCOUNT=1                     # Need name as argument.
   4&nbsp;E_WRONGARGS=65
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;if [ number-of-arguments is-not-equal-to "$ARGCOUNT" ]
   7&nbsp;#    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   8&nbsp;#  Can't figure out how to code this . . .
   9&nbsp;#+ . . . so write it in pseudo-code.
  10&nbsp;
  11&nbsp;then
  12&nbsp;  echo "Usage: name-of-script name"
  13&nbsp;  #            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^     More pseudo-code.
  14&nbsp;  exit $E_WRONGARGS
  15&nbsp;fi 
  16&nbsp;
  17&nbsp;. . .
  18&nbsp;
  19&nbsp;exit 0
  20&nbsp;
  21&nbsp;
  22&nbsp;# Later on, substitute working code for the pseudo-code.
  23&nbsp;
  24&nbsp;# Line 6 becomes:
  25&nbsp;if [ $# -ne "$ARGCOUNT" ]
  26&nbsp;
  27&nbsp;# Line 12 becomes:
  28&nbsp;  echo "Usage: `basename $0` name"</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
>For an example of using pseudo-code, see the <A
HREF="writingscripts.html#NEWTONSQRT"
>Square Root</A
> exercise.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="TRACKINGSCR"
></A
></P
><P
>To keep a record of which user scripts have run
	    during a particular session or over a number of sessions,
	    add the following lines to each script you want to keep track
	    of. This will keep a continuing file record of the script
	    names and invocation times. </P
><P
>	  <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;# Append (&#62;&#62;) following to end of each script tracked.
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;whoami&#62;&#62; $SAVE_FILE    # User invoking the script.
   4&nbsp;echo $0&#62;&#62; $SAVE_FILE   # Script name.
   5&nbsp;date&#62;&#62; $SAVE_FILE      # Date and time.
   6&nbsp;echo&#62;&#62; $SAVE_FILE      # Blank line as separator.
   7&nbsp;
   8&nbsp;#  Of course, SAVE_FILE defined and exported as environmental variable in ~/.bashrc
   9&nbsp;#+ (something like ~/.scripts-run)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
          </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="PREPENDREF"
></A
></P
><P
>The <SPAN
CLASS="TOKEN"
>&#62;&#62;</SPAN
> operator
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>appends</I
> lines to a file.
	    What if you wish to <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>prepend</I
> a
	    line to an existing file, that is, to paste it in at the
	    beginning?</P
><P
>	  <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;file=data.txt
   2&nbsp;title="***This is the title line of data text file***"
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;echo $title | cat - $file &#62;$file.new
   5&nbsp;# "cat -" concatenates stdout to $file.
   6&nbsp;#  End result is
   7&nbsp;#+ to write a new file with $title appended at *beginning*.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	  </P
><P
>This is a simplified variant of the <A
HREF="here-docs.html#PREPENDEX"
>Example 19-13</A
> script given earlier.	And, of course,
	    <A
HREF="sedawk.html#SEDREF"
>sed</A
> can also do this.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="SCRIPTASEMB"
></A
></P
><P
>A shell script may act as an embedded command inside
	    another shell script, a <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Tcl</I
> or
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>wish</I
> script, or even a <A
HREF="filearchiv.html#MAKEFILEREF"
>Makefile</A
>. It can be invoked
	    as an external shell command in a C program using the
	    <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>system()</I
></TT
> call, i.e.,
	   <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>system("script_name");</I
></TT
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="SETVAREMB"
></A
></P
><P
>Setting a variable to the contents of an embedded
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>sed</I
> or <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>awk</I
>
	    script increases the readability of the surrounding <A
HREF="wrapper.html#SHWRAPPER"
>shell wrapper</A
>. See <A
HREF="contributed-scripts.html#MAILFORMAT"
>Example A-1</A
> and <A
HREF="internal.html#COLTOTALER3"
>Example 15-20</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="LIBROUTINES"
></A
></P
><P
>Put together files containing your favorite and most useful
	    definitions and functions.	As necessary,
	    <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"include"</SPAN
> one or more of these
	    <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"library files"</SPAN
> in scripts with either the
	    <A
HREF="special-chars.html#DOTREF"
>dot</A
> (<B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>.</B
>)
	    or <A
HREF="internal.html#SOURCEREF"
>source</A
> command.</P
><P
>  
            <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;# SCRIPT LIBRARY
   2&nbsp;# ------ -------
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;# Note:
   5&nbsp;# No "#!" here.
   6&nbsp;# No "live code" either.
   7&nbsp;
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;# Useful variable definitions
  10&nbsp;
  11&nbsp;ROOT_UID=0             # Root has $UID 0.
  12&nbsp;E_NOTROOT=101          # Not root user error. 
  13&nbsp;MAXRETVAL=255          # Maximum (positive) return value of a function.
  14&nbsp;SUCCESS=0
  15&nbsp;FAILURE=-1
  16&nbsp;
  17&nbsp;
  18&nbsp;
  19&nbsp;# Functions
  20&nbsp;
  21&nbsp;Usage ()               # "Usage:" message.
  22&nbsp;{
  23&nbsp;  if [ -z "$1" ]       # No arg passed.
  24&nbsp;  then
  25&nbsp;    msg=filename
  26&nbsp;  else
  27&nbsp;    msg=$@
  28&nbsp;  fi
  29&nbsp;
  30&nbsp;  echo "Usage: `basename $0` "$msg""
  31&nbsp;}  
  32&nbsp;
  33&nbsp;
  34&nbsp;Check_if_root ()       # Check if root running script.
  35&nbsp;{                      # From "ex39.sh" example.
  36&nbsp;  if [ "$UID" -ne "$ROOT_UID" ]
  37&nbsp;  then
  38&nbsp;    echo "Must be root to run this script."
  39&nbsp;    exit $E_NOTROOT
  40&nbsp;  fi
  41&nbsp;}  
  42&nbsp;
  43&nbsp;
  44&nbsp;CreateTempfileName ()  # Creates a "unique" temp filename.
  45&nbsp;{                      # From "ex51.sh" example.
  46&nbsp;  prefix=temp
  47&nbsp;  suffix=`eval date +%s`
  48&nbsp;  Tempfilename=$prefix.$suffix
  49&nbsp;}
  50&nbsp;
  51&nbsp;
  52&nbsp;isalpha2 ()            # Tests whether *entire string* is alphabetic.
  53&nbsp;{                      # From "isalpha.sh" example.
  54&nbsp;  [ $# -eq 1 ] || return $FAILURE
  55&nbsp;
  56&nbsp;  case $1 in
  57&nbsp;  *[!a-zA-Z]*|"") return $FAILURE;;
  58&nbsp;  *) return $SUCCESS;;
  59&nbsp;  esac                 # Thanks, S.C.
  60&nbsp;}
  61&nbsp;
  62&nbsp;
  63&nbsp;abs ()                           # Absolute value.
  64&nbsp;{                                # Caution: Max return value = 255.
  65&nbsp;  E_ARGERR=-999999
  66&nbsp;
  67&nbsp;  if [ -z "$1" ]                 # Need arg passed.
  68&nbsp;  then
  69&nbsp;    return $E_ARGERR             # Obvious error value returned.
  70&nbsp;  fi
  71&nbsp;
  72&nbsp;  if [ "$1" -ge 0 ]              # If non-negative,
  73&nbsp;  then                           #
  74&nbsp;    absval=$1                    # stays as-is.
  75&nbsp;  else                           # Otherwise,
  76&nbsp;    let "absval = (( 0 - $1 ))"  # change sign.
  77&nbsp;  fi  
  78&nbsp;
  79&nbsp;  return $absval
  80&nbsp;}
  81&nbsp;
  82&nbsp;
  83&nbsp;tolower ()             #  Converts string(s) passed as argument(s)
  84&nbsp;{                      #+ to lowercase.
  85&nbsp;
  86&nbsp;  if [ -z "$1" ]       #  If no argument(s) passed,
  87&nbsp;  then                 #+ send error message
  88&nbsp;    echo "(null)"      #+ (C-style void-pointer error message)
  89&nbsp;    return             #+ and return from function.
  90&nbsp;  fi  
  91&nbsp;
  92&nbsp;  echo "$@" | tr A-Z a-z
  93&nbsp;  # Translate all passed arguments ($@).
  94&nbsp;
  95&nbsp;  return
  96&nbsp;
  97&nbsp;# Use command substitution to set a variable to function output.
  98&nbsp;# For example:
  99&nbsp;#    oldvar="A seT of miXed-caSe LEtTerS"
 100&nbsp;#    newvar=`tolower "$oldvar"`
 101&nbsp;#    echo "$newvar"    # a set of mixed-case letters
 102&nbsp;#
 103&nbsp;# Exercise: Rewrite this function to change lowercase passed argument(s)
 104&nbsp;#           to uppercase ... toupper()  [easy].
 105&nbsp;}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
          </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="COMMENTH"
></A
></P
><P
>Use special-purpose comment headers to increase clarity
	    and legibility in scripts.</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;## Caution.
   2&nbsp;rm -rf *.zzy   ##  The "-rf" options to "rm" are very dangerous,
   3&nbsp;               ##+ especially with wild cards.
   4&nbsp;
   5&nbsp;#+ Line continuation.
   6&nbsp;#  This is line 1
   7&nbsp;#+ of a multi-line comment,
   8&nbsp;#+ and this is the final line.
   9&nbsp;
  10&nbsp;#* Note.
  11&nbsp;
  12&nbsp;#o List item.
  13&nbsp;
  14&nbsp;#&#62; Another point of view.
  15&nbsp;while [ "$var1" != "end" ]    #&#62; while test "$var1" != "end"</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="PROGBAR"
></A
></P
><P
>Dotan Barak contributes template code for a
	  <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>progress bar</I
> in a script.</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="PROGRESSBAR"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-17. A Progress Bar</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# progress-bar.sh
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;# Author: Dotan Barak (very minor revisions by ABS Guide author).
   5&nbsp;# Used in ABS Guide with permission (thanks!).
   6&nbsp;
   7&nbsp;
   8&nbsp;BAR_WIDTH=50
   9&nbsp;BAR_CHAR_START="["
  10&nbsp;BAR_CHAR_END="]"
  11&nbsp;BAR_CHAR_EMPTY="."
  12&nbsp;BAR_CHAR_FULL="="
  13&nbsp;BRACKET_CHARS=2
  14&nbsp;LIMIT=100
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;print_progress_bar()
  17&nbsp;{
  18&nbsp;        # Calculate how many characters will be full.
  19&nbsp;        let "full_limit = ((($1 - $BRACKET_CHARS) * $2) / $LIMIT)"
  20&nbsp;
  21&nbsp;        # Calculate how many characters will be empty.
  22&nbsp;        let "empty_limit = ($1 - $BRACKET_CHARS) - ${full_limit}"
  23&nbsp;
  24&nbsp;        # Prepare the bar.
  25&nbsp;        bar_line="${BAR_CHAR_START}"
  26&nbsp;        for ((j=0; j&#60;full_limit; j++)); do
  27&nbsp;                bar_line="${bar_line}${BAR_CHAR_FULL}"
  28&nbsp;        done
  29&nbsp;
  30&nbsp;        for ((j=0; j&#60;empty_limit; j++)); do
  31&nbsp;                bar_line="${bar_line}${BAR_CHAR_EMPTY}"
  32&nbsp;        done
  33&nbsp;
  34&nbsp;        bar_line="${bar_line}${BAR_CHAR_END}"
  35&nbsp;
  36&nbsp;        printf "%3d%% %s" $2 ${bar_line}
  37&nbsp;}
  38&nbsp;
  39&nbsp;# Here is a sample of code that uses it.
  40&nbsp;MAX_PERCENT=100
  41&nbsp;for ((i=0; i&#60;=MAX_PERCENT; i++)); do
  42&nbsp;        #
  43&nbsp;        usleep 10000
  44&nbsp;        # ... Or run some other commands ...
  45&nbsp;        #
  46&nbsp;        print_progress_bar ${BAR_WIDTH} ${i}
  47&nbsp;        echo -en "\r"
  48&nbsp;done
  49&nbsp;
  50&nbsp;echo ""
  51&nbsp;
  52&nbsp;exit</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="COMOUTBL"
></A
></P
><P
>A particularly clever use of <A
HREF="tests.html#TESTCONSTRUCTS1"
>if-test</A
> constructs
	    is for comment blocks.</P
><P
>    
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;COMMENT_BLOCK=
   4&nbsp;#  Try setting the above variable to some value
   5&nbsp;#+ for an unpleasant surprise.
   6&nbsp;
   7&nbsp;if [ $COMMENT_BLOCK ]; then
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;Comment block --
  10&nbsp;=================================
  11&nbsp;This is a comment line.
  12&nbsp;This is another comment line.
  13&nbsp;This is yet another comment line.
  14&nbsp;=================================
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;echo "This will not echo."
  17&nbsp;
  18&nbsp;Comment blocks are error-free! Whee!
  19&nbsp;
  20&nbsp;fi
  21&nbsp;
  22&nbsp;echo "No more comments, please."
  23&nbsp;
  24&nbsp;exit 0</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	  </P
><P
>Compare this with <A
HREF="here-docs.html#CBLOCK1"
>using  
	    here documents to comment out code blocks</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="INTPARAM"
></A
></P
><P
>Using the <A
HREF="variables2.html#XSTATVARREF"
>$? exit status
	    variable</A
>, a script may test if a parameter contains
	    only digits, so it can be treated as an integer.</P
><P
>  
	    <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;SUCCESS=0
   4&nbsp;E_BADINPUT=85
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;test "$1" -ne 0 -o "$1" -eq 0 2&#62;/dev/null
   7&nbsp;# An integer is either equal to 0 or not equal to 0.
   8&nbsp;# 2&#62;/dev/null suppresses error message.
   9&nbsp;
  10&nbsp;if [ $? -ne "$SUCCESS" ]
  11&nbsp;then
  12&nbsp;  echo "Usage: `basename $0` integer-input"
  13&nbsp;  exit $E_BADINPUT
  14&nbsp;fi
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;let "sum = $1 + 25"             # Would give error if $1 not integer.
  17&nbsp;echo "Sum = $sum"
  18&nbsp;
  19&nbsp;# Any variable, not just a command-line parameter, can be tested this way.
  20&nbsp;
  21&nbsp;exit 0</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
          </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="RVT"
></A
>The 0 - 255 range for function return
	    values is a severe limitation. Global variables and
	    other workarounds are often problematic. An alternative
	    method for a function to communicate a value back to
	    the main body of the script is to have the function
	    write to <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>stdout</TT
> (usually with
	    <A
HREF="internal.html#ECHOREF"
>echo</A
>) the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"return
	    value,"</SPAN
> and assign this to a variable. This is
	    actually a variant of <A
HREF="commandsub.html#COMMANDSUBREF"
>command
	    substitution.</A
></P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="MULTIPLICATION"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-18. Return value trickery</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# multiplication.sh
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;multiply ()                     # Multiplies params passed.
   5&nbsp;{                               # Will accept a variable number of args.
   6&nbsp;
   7&nbsp;  local product=1
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;  until [ -z "$1" ]             # Until uses up arguments passed...
  10&nbsp;  do
  11&nbsp;    let "product *= $1"
  12&nbsp;    shift
  13&nbsp;  done
  14&nbsp;
  15&nbsp;  echo $product                 #  Will not echo to stdout,
  16&nbsp;}                               #+ since this will be assigned to a variable.
  17&nbsp;
  18&nbsp;mult1=15383; mult2=25211
  19&nbsp;val1=`multiply $mult1 $mult2`
  20&nbsp;# Assigns stdout (echo) of function to the variable val1.
  21&nbsp;echo "$mult1 X $mult2 = $val1"                   # 387820813
  22&nbsp;
  23&nbsp;mult1=25; mult2=5; mult3=20
  24&nbsp;val2=`multiply $mult1 $mult2 $mult3`
  25&nbsp;echo "$mult1 X $mult2 X $mult3 = $val2"          # 2500
  26&nbsp;
  27&nbsp;mult1=188; mult2=37; mult3=25; mult4=47
  28&nbsp;val3=`multiply $mult1 $mult2 $mult3 $mult4`
  29&nbsp;echo "$mult1 X $mult2 X $mult3 X $mult4 = $val3" # 8173300
  30&nbsp;
  31&nbsp;exit 0</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
><P
>The same technique also works for alphanumeric
	    strings. This means that a function can <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"return"</SPAN
>
	    a non-numeric value.</P
><P
>	  <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;capitalize_ichar ()          #  Capitalizes initial character
   2&nbsp;{                            #+ of argument string(s) passed.
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;  string0="$@"               # Accepts multiple arguments.
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;  firstchar=${string0:0:1}   # First character.
   7&nbsp;  string1=${string0:1}       # Rest of string(s).
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;  FirstChar=`echo "$firstchar" | tr a-z A-Z`
  10&nbsp;                             # Capitalize first character.
  11&nbsp;
  12&nbsp;  echo "$FirstChar$string1"  # Output to stdout.
  13&nbsp;
  14&nbsp;}  
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;newstring=`capitalize_ichar "every sentence should start with a capital letter."`
  17&nbsp;echo "$newstring"          # Every sentence should start with a capital letter.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
> 
	  </P
><P
>It is even possible for a function to <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"return"</SPAN
>
	    multiple values with this method.</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="SUMPRODUCT"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-19. Even more return value trickery</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# sum-product.sh
   3&nbsp;# A function may "return" more than one value.
   4&nbsp;
   5&nbsp;sum_and_product ()   # Calculates both sum and product of passed args.
   6&nbsp;{
   7&nbsp;  echo $(( $1 + $2 )) $(( $1 * $2 ))
   8&nbsp;# Echoes to stdout each calculated value, separated by space.
   9&nbsp;}
  10&nbsp;
  11&nbsp;echo
  12&nbsp;echo "Enter first number "
  13&nbsp;read first
  14&nbsp;
  15&nbsp;echo
  16&nbsp;echo "Enter second number "
  17&nbsp;read second
  18&nbsp;echo
  19&nbsp;
  20&nbsp;retval=`sum_and_product $first $second`      # Assigns output of function.
  21&nbsp;sum=`echo "$retval" | awk '{print $1}'`      # Assigns first field.
  22&nbsp;product=`echo "$retval" | awk '{print $2}'`  # Assigns second field.
  23&nbsp;
  24&nbsp;echo "$first + $second = $sum"
  25&nbsp;echo "$first * $second = $product"
  26&nbsp;echo
  27&nbsp;
  28&nbsp;exit 0</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="CAUTION"
><TABLE
CLASS="CAUTION"
WIDTH="90%"
BORDER="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="25"
ALIGN="CENTER"
VALIGN="TOP"
><IMG
SRC="common/caution.png"
HSPACE="5"
ALT="Caution"></TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
><A
NAME="RVTCAUTION"
></A
>There can be only
	    <B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>one</B
> <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>echo</I
> statement
	    in the function for this to work. If you alter the previous
	    example:</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;sum_and_product ()
   2&nbsp;{
   3&nbsp;  echo "This is the sum_and_product function." # This messes things up!
   4&nbsp;  echo $(( $1 + $2 )) $(( $1 * $2 ))
   5&nbsp;}
   6&nbsp;...
   7&nbsp;retval=`sum_and_product $first $second`      # Assigns output of function.
   8&nbsp;# Now, this will not work correctly.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="PASSARRAY"
></A
></P
><P
>Next in our bag of tricks are techniques for passing
	    an <A
HREF="arrays.html#ARRAYREF"
>array</A
> to a
	    <A
HREF="functions.html#FUNCTIONREF"
>function</A
>, then
	    <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"returning"</SPAN
> an array back to the main body of
	    the script.</P
><P
>Passing an array involves loading the space-separated
	    elements of the array into a variable with <A
HREF="commandsub.html#COMMANDSUBREF"
>command substitution</A
>. <A
NAME="RETARRAY"
></A
>Getting an array back as the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"return
	    value"</SPAN
> from a function uses the previously mentioned
	    strategem of <A
HREF="internal.html#ECHOREF"
>echoing</A
> the
	    array in the function, then invoking command substitution
	    and the <B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>( ... )</B
> operator to assign it to
	    an array.</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="ARRFUNC"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-20. Passing and returning arrays</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# array-function.sh: Passing an array to a function and ...
   3&nbsp;#                   "returning" an array from a function
   4&nbsp;
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;Pass_Array ()
   7&nbsp;{
   8&nbsp;  local passed_array   # Local variable!
   9&nbsp;  passed_array=( `echo "$1"` )
  10&nbsp;  echo "${passed_array[@]}"
  11&nbsp;  #  List all the elements of the new array
  12&nbsp;  #+ declared and set within the function.
  13&nbsp;}
  14&nbsp;
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;original_array=( element1 element2 element3 element4 element5 )
  17&nbsp;
  18&nbsp;echo
  19&nbsp;echo "original_array = ${original_array[@]}"
  20&nbsp;#                      List all elements of original array.
  21&nbsp;
  22&nbsp;
  23&nbsp;# This is the trick that permits passing an array to a function.
  24&nbsp;# **********************************
  25&nbsp;argument=`echo ${original_array[@]}`
  26&nbsp;# **********************************
  27&nbsp;#  Pack a variable
  28&nbsp;#+ with all the space-separated elements of the original array.
  29&nbsp;#
  30&nbsp;# Attempting to just pass the array itself will not work.
  31&nbsp;
  32&nbsp;
  33&nbsp;# This is the trick that allows grabbing an array as a "return value".
  34&nbsp;# *****************************************
  35&nbsp;returned_array=( `Pass_Array "$argument"` )
  36&nbsp;# *****************************************
  37&nbsp;# Assign 'echoed' output of function to array variable.
  38&nbsp;
  39&nbsp;echo "returned_array = ${returned_array[@]}"
  40&nbsp;
  41&nbsp;echo "============================================================="
  42&nbsp;
  43&nbsp;#  Now, try it again,
  44&nbsp;#+ attempting to access (list) the array from outside the function.
  45&nbsp;Pass_Array "$argument"
  46&nbsp;
  47&nbsp;# The function itself lists the array, but ...
  48&nbsp;#+ accessing the array from outside the function is forbidden.
  49&nbsp;echo "Passed array (within function) = ${passed_array[@]}"
  50&nbsp;# NULL VALUE since the array is a variable local to the function.
  51&nbsp;
  52&nbsp;echo
  53&nbsp;
  54&nbsp;############################################
  55&nbsp;
  56&nbsp;# And here is an even more explicit example:
  57&nbsp;
  58&nbsp;ret_array ()
  59&nbsp;{
  60&nbsp;  for element in {11..20}
  61&nbsp;  do
  62&nbsp;    echo "$element "   #  Echo individual elements
  63&nbsp;  done                 #+ of what will be assembled into an array.
  64&nbsp;}
  65&nbsp;
  66&nbsp;arr=( $(ret_array) )   #  Assemble into array.
  67&nbsp;
  68&nbsp;echo "Capturing array \"arr\" from function ret_array () ..."
  69&nbsp;echo "Third element of array \"arr\" is ${arr[2]}."   # 13  (zero-indexed)
  70&nbsp;echo -n "Entire array is: "
  71&nbsp;echo ${arr[@]}                # 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
  72&nbsp;
  73&nbsp;echo
  74&nbsp;
  75&nbsp;exit 0
  76&nbsp;
  77&nbsp;#  Nathan Coulter points out that passing arrays with elements containing
  78&nbsp;#+ whitespace breaks this example.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
><P
>For a more elaborate example of passing arrays to
	    functions, see <A
HREF="contributed-scripts.html#LIFESLOW"
>Example A-10</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="CSTYLE"
></A
></P
><P
>Using the <A
HREF="dblparens.html"
>double-parentheses
	    construct</A
>, it is possible to use C-style syntax
	    for setting and incrementing/decrementing variables
	    and in <A
HREF="loops.html#FORLOOPREF1"
>for</A
> and <A
HREF="loops.html#WHILELOOPREF"
>while</A
> loops.	See <A
HREF="loops.html#FORLOOPC"
>Example 11-13</A
> and <A
HREF="loops.html#WHLOOPC"
>Example 11-18</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="SETPUM"
></A
></P
><P
>Setting the <A
HREF="variables2.html#PATHREF"
>path</A
> and <A
HREF="system.html#UMASKREF"
>umask</A
> at the beginning of a script makes
	    it more <A
HREF="portabilityissues.html"
>portable</A
>
	    -- more likely to run on a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"foreign"</SPAN
> machine
	    whose user may have bollixed up the <TT
CLASS="VARNAME"
>$PATH</TT
>
	    and <B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>umask</B
>.
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin ; export PATH
   3&nbsp;umask 022   # Files that the script creates will have 755 permission.
   4&nbsp;
   5&nbsp;# Thanks to Ian D. Allen, for this tip.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="FILTEROUTP"
></A
></P
><P
>A useful scripting technique is to
	    <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>repeatedly</I
></SPAN
> feed the output of a filter
	    (by piping) back to the <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>same filter</I
></SPAN
>, but
	    with a different set of arguments and/or options. Especially
	    suitable for this are <A
HREF="textproc.html#TRREF"
>tr</A
> and
	    <A
HREF="textproc.html#GREPREF"
>grep</A
>.</P
><P
>	  <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;# From "wstrings.sh" example.
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;wlist=`strings "$1" | tr A-Z a-z | tr '[:space:]' Z | \
   4&nbsp;tr -cs '[:alpha:]' Z | tr -s '\173-\377' Z | tr Z ' '`</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	  </P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="AGRAM"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-21. Fun with anagrams</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# agram.sh: Playing games with anagrams.
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;# Find anagrams of...
   5&nbsp;LETTERSET=etaoinshrdlu
   6&nbsp;FILTER='.......'       # How many letters minimum?
   7&nbsp;#       1234567
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;anagram "$LETTERSET" | # Find all anagrams of the letterset...
  10&nbsp;grep "$FILTER" |       # With at least 7 letters,
  11&nbsp;grep '^is' |           # starting with 'is'
  12&nbsp;grep -v 's$' |         # no plurals
  13&nbsp;grep -v 'ed$'          # no past tense verbs
  14&nbsp;# Possible to add many combinations of conditions and filters.
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;#  Uses "anagram" utility
  17&nbsp;#+ that is part of the author's "yawl" word list package.
  18&nbsp;#  http://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/libs/yawl-0.3.2.tar.gz
  19&nbsp;#  http://bash.deta.in/yawl-0.3.2.tar.gz
  20&nbsp;
  21&nbsp;exit 0                 # End of code.
  22&nbsp;
  23&nbsp;
  24&nbsp;bash$ sh agram.sh
  25&nbsp;islander
  26&nbsp;isolate
  27&nbsp;isolead
  28&nbsp;isotheral
  29&nbsp;
  30&nbsp;
  31&nbsp;
  32&nbsp;#  Exercises:
  33&nbsp;#  ---------
  34&nbsp;#  Modify this script to take the LETTERSET as a command-line parameter.
  35&nbsp;#  Parameterize the filters in lines 11 - 13 (as with $FILTER),
  36&nbsp;#+ so that they can be specified by passing arguments to a function.
  37&nbsp;
  38&nbsp;#  For a slightly different approach to anagramming,
  39&nbsp;#+ see the agram2.sh script.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
><P
>See also <A
HREF="procref1.html#CONSTAT"
>Example 29-4</A
>, <A
HREF="textproc.html#CRYPTOQUOTE"
>Example 16-25</A
>, and <A
HREF="contributed-scripts.html#SOUNDEX"
>Example A-9</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="COMMBLAHD"
></A
></P
><P
>Use <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<A
HREF="here-docs.html#ANONHEREDOC0"
>anonymous here
	    documents</A
>"</SPAN
> to comment out blocks of code,
	    to save having to individually comment out each line with
	    a <SPAN
CLASS="TOKEN"
>#</SPAN
>.  See <A
HREF="here-docs.html#COMMENTBLOCK"
>Example 19-11</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="WHATISREF3"
></A
></P
><P
>Running a script on a machine that relies on a command
	    that might not be installed is dangerous. Use <A
HREF="filearchiv.html#WHATISREF"
>whatis</A
> to avoid potential problems
	    with this.</P
><P
>	    <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;CMD=command1                 # First choice.
   2&nbsp;PlanB=command2               # Fallback option.
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;command_test=$(whatis "$CMD" | grep 'nothing appropriate')
   5&nbsp;#  If 'command1' not found on system , 'whatis' will return
   6&nbsp;#+ "command1: nothing appropriate."
   7&nbsp;#
   8&nbsp;#  A safer alternative is:
   9&nbsp;#     command_test=$(whereis "$CMD" | grep \/)
  10&nbsp;#  But then the sense of the following test would have to be reversed,
  11&nbsp;#+ since the $command_test variable holds content only if
  12&nbsp;#+ the $CMD exists on the system.
  13&nbsp;#     (Thanks, bojster.)
  14&nbsp;
  15&nbsp;
  16&nbsp;if [[ -z "$command_test" ]]  # Check whether command present.
  17&nbsp;then
  18&nbsp;  $CMD option1 option2       #  Run command1 with options.
  19&nbsp;else                         #  Otherwise,
  20&nbsp;  $PlanB                     #+ run command2. 
  21&nbsp;fi</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
          </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="IFGREPFIX"
></A
></P
><P
>An <A
HREF="tests.html#IFGREPREF"
>if-grep test</A
> may not
	    return expected results in an error case, when text is output to
	    <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>stderr</TT
>, rather that
	    <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>stdout</TT
>.
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;if ls -l nonexistent_filename | grep -q 'No such file or directory'
   2&nbsp;  then echo "File \"nonexistent_filename\" does not exist."
   3&nbsp;fi</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
><A
HREF="io-redirection.html#IOREDIRREF"
>Redirecting</A
>
	    <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>stderr</TT
> to <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>stdout</TT
> fixes
	    this.
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;if ls -l nonexistent_filename 2&#62;&#38;1 | grep -q 'No such file or directory'
   2&nbsp;#                             ^^^^
   3&nbsp;  then echo "File \"nonexistent_filename\" does not exist."
   4&nbsp;fi
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;# Thanks, Chris Martin, for pointing this out.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="SUBSHTMP"
></A
>
        If you absolutely must access a subshell variable outside the
	subshell, here's a way to do it.
	  <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;TMPFILE=tmpfile                  # Create a temp file to store the variable.
   2&nbsp;
   3&nbsp;(   # Inside the subshell ...
   4&nbsp;inner_variable=Inner
   5&nbsp;echo $inner_variable
   6&nbsp;echo $inner_variable &#62;&#62;$TMPFILE  # Append to temp file.
   7&nbsp;)
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;    # Outside the subshell ...
  10&nbsp;
  11&nbsp;echo; echo "-----"; echo
  12&nbsp;echo $inner_variable             # Null, as expected.
  13&nbsp;echo "-----"; echo
  14&nbsp;
  15&nbsp;# Now ...
  16&nbsp;read inner_variable &#60;$TMPFILE    # Read back shell variable.
  17&nbsp;rm -f "$TMPFILE"                 # Get rid of temp file.
  18&nbsp;echo "$inner_variable"           # It's an ugly kludge, but it works.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="RUNPARTSREF2"
></A
></P
><P
>The <A
HREF="extmisc.html#RUNPARTSREF"
>run-parts</A
>
	    command is handy for running a set of command
	    scripts in a particular sequence, especially in
	    combination with <A
HREF="system.html#CRONREF"
>cron</A
> or
	    <A
HREF="timedate.html#ATREF"
>at</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><A
NAME="RCSREF"
></A
></P
><P
>For doing multiple revisions on a complex script, use the
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>rcs</I
> Revision Control System package.</P
><P
> Among other benefits of this is automatically updated ID
	    header tags. The <B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>co</B
> command in
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>rcs</I
> does a parameter replacement of
	    certain reserved key words, for example, replacing
	    <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
><I
># $Id$</I
></TT
> in a script with something like:
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;# $Id: hello-world.sh,v 1.1 2004/10/16 02:43:05 bozo Exp $</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></LI
></UL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN20679"
></A
>36.7.2. Widgets</H2
><P
><A
NAME="WIDGETREF"
></A
></P
><P
>It would be nice to be able to invoke X-Windows widgets
	    from a shell script. There happen to exist several packages
	    that purport to do so, namely <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Xscript</I
>,
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Xmenu</I
>, and <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>widtools</I
>.
	    The first two of these no longer seem
	    to be maintained.  Fortunately, it is still
	    possible to obtain <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>widtools</I
> <A
HREF="http://www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov/~mallozzi/home/software/xforms/src/widtools-2.0.tgz"
TARGET="_top"
>here</A
>.
	    </P
><DIV
CLASS="CAUTION"
><TABLE
CLASS="CAUTION"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="25"
ALIGN="CENTER"
VALIGN="TOP"
><IMG
SRC="common/caution.png"
HSPACE="5"
ALT="Caution"></TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
>The <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>widtools</I
> (widget tools)
	    package requires the <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>XForms</I
> library to
	    be installed. Additionally, the <A
HREF="filearchiv.html#MAKEFILEREF"
>Makefile</A
> needs some judicious
	    editing before the package will build on a typical Linux
	    system. Finally, three of the six widgets offered do not work
	    (and, in fact, segfault).</P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
><P
><A
NAME="DIALOGREF"
></A
></P
><P
>The <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>dialog</I
> family of tools offers a method
	    of calling <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"dialog"</SPAN
> widgets from a shell script. The
	    original <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>dialog</I
> utility works in a text
	    console, but its successors, <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>gdialog</I
>,
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Xdialog</I
>, and <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>kdialog</I
>
	    use X-Windows-based widget sets.</P
><DIV
CLASS="EXAMPLE"
><HR><A
NAME="DIALOG"
></A
><P
><B
>Example 36-22. Widgets invoked from a shell script</B
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;#!/bin/bash
   2&nbsp;# dialog.sh: Using 'gdialog' widgets.
   3&nbsp;
   4&nbsp;# Must have 'gdialog' installed on your system to run this script.
   5&nbsp;# Or, you can replace all instance of 'gdialog' below with 'kdialog' ...
   6&nbsp;# Version 1.1 (corrected 04/05/05)
   7&nbsp;
   8&nbsp;# This script was inspired by the following article.
   9&nbsp;#     "Scripting for X Productivity," by Marco Fioretti,
  10&nbsp;#      LINUX JOURNAL, Issue 113, September 2003, pp. 86-9.
  11&nbsp;# Thank you, all you good people at LJ.
  12&nbsp;
  13&nbsp;
  14&nbsp;# Input error in dialog box.
  15&nbsp;E_INPUT=85
  16&nbsp;# Dimensions of display, input widgets.
  17&nbsp;HEIGHT=50
  18&nbsp;WIDTH=60
  19&nbsp;
  20&nbsp;# Output file name (constructed out of script name).
  21&nbsp;OUTFILE=$0.output
  22&nbsp;
  23&nbsp;# Display this script in a text widget.
  24&nbsp;gdialog --title "Displaying: $0" --textbox $0 $HEIGHT $WIDTH
  25&nbsp;
  26&nbsp;
  27&nbsp;
  28&nbsp;# Now, we'll try saving input in a file.
  29&nbsp;echo -n "VARIABLE=" &#62; $OUTFILE
  30&nbsp;gdialog --title "User Input" --inputbox "Enter variable, please:" \
  31&nbsp;$HEIGHT $WIDTH 2&#62;&#62; $OUTFILE
  32&nbsp;
  33&nbsp;
  34&nbsp;if [ "$?" -eq 0 ]
  35&nbsp;# It's good practice to check exit status.
  36&nbsp;then
  37&nbsp;  echo "Executed \"dialog box\" without errors."
  38&nbsp;else
  39&nbsp;  echo "Error(s) in \"dialog box\" execution."
  40&nbsp;        # Or, clicked on "Cancel", instead of "OK" button.
  41&nbsp;  rm $OUTFILE
  42&nbsp;  exit $E_INPUT
  43&nbsp;fi
  44&nbsp;
  45&nbsp;
  46&nbsp;
  47&nbsp;# Now, we'll retrieve and display the saved variable.
  48&nbsp;. $OUTFILE   # 'Source' the saved file.
  49&nbsp;echo "The variable input in the \"input box\" was: "$VARIABLE""
  50&nbsp;
  51&nbsp;
  52&nbsp;rm $OUTFILE  # Clean up by removing the temp file.
  53&nbsp;             # Some applications may need to retain this file.
  54&nbsp;
  55&nbsp;exit $?
  56&nbsp;
  57&nbsp;# Exercise: Rewrite this script using the 'zenity' widget set.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR></DIV
><P
><A
NAME="XMESSAGEREF2"
></A
>
	    The <A
HREF="extmisc.html#XMESSAGEREF"
>xmessage</A
> command is
	    a simple method of popping up a message/query window. For
	    example:
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;xmessage Fatal error in script! -button exit</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	  </P
><P
><A
NAME="ZENITYREF2"
></A
>
	    The latest entry in the widget sweepstakes is
	    <A
HREF="extmisc.html#ZENITYREF"
>zenity</A
>.
	    This utility pops up
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>GTK+</I
> dialog widgets-and-windows,
	    and it works very nicely within a script.
	      <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>   1&nbsp;get_info ()
   2&nbsp;{
   3&nbsp;  zenity --entry       #  Pops up query window . . .
   4&nbsp;                       #+ and prints user entry to stdout.
   5&nbsp;
   6&nbsp;                       #  Also try the --calendar and --scale options.
   7&nbsp;}
   8&nbsp;
   9&nbsp;answer=$( get_info )   #  Capture stdout in $answer variable.
  10&nbsp;
  11&nbsp;echo "User entered: "$answer""</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
	  </P
><P
>For other methods of scripting with widgets, try
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Tk</I
> or <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>wish</I
>
	    (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Tcl</I
> derivatives),
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>PerlTk</I
> (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Perl</I
>
	    with <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Tk</I
> extensions),
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>tksh</I
> (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>ksh</I
>
	    with <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Tk</I
> extensions),
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>XForms4Perl</I
>
	    (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Perl</I
> with
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>XForms</I
> extensions),
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Gtk-Perl</I
> (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Perl</I
>
	    with <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Gtk</I
> extensions), or
	    <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>PyQt</I
> (<I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Python</I
>
	    with <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>Qt</I
> extensions).</P
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