{{Admon/tip|Bash Shell Scripting Tips:|<br><ul><li>'''Data Input:'''<br><br>A shell script can obtain data from a number of methods: '''reading input files''', using '''arguments when issuing command''' (positional parameters), or '''prompting for data to store in a variable'''. The later method can be accomplished by using the '''read''' command, for example: '''read -p "Enter your name: " userName'''.<br><br></li><li>'''Mathematical Expressions:'''<br><br>In shell scripting, data is stored in variable as text, not other data types (ints, floats, chars, etc) like in compiled programs like C or Java. In order to have a shell script perform '''mathematical operations''', number or variable need to be surrounded by two sets of parenthesis '''((..))''' in order to convert a number stored as text to a binary number.<br><br><u>'''Examples'''</u><br><br>''var1&#61;5;var2&#61;10''<br>''echo "$var1 + $var2 &#61; $((var1+var2))"''<br><br>'''Note:''' shell does not perform floating point calculations (like '''5/10'''). Instead, other commands like '''awk''' or '''bc''' would be required for floating point calculations (decimals)<br><br></li><li>'''Loops (iteration):'''<br><br>xLoops and logic are a very important elements of shell scripting (not to mention programming as well). Determinant loops (such as '''for''' loops) usually repeat for a preset number of times (eg. counts, positional parameters stored). In-determinant loops (such as '''while''' or '''until''' loops) may repeat based on unknown conditions (like waiting for user to enter correct data). Test conditions can be used with in-determinant loops, or even commands! If a command runs successfully (eg ls, cd, grep matching a pattern), zero (true) value is returned, otherwise a non-zero (false) value is returned. Command options or redirection to /'''dev/null''' can be used to just test if command runs, but not display stdout or stderr.<br><br>'''<u>Examples (try in a shell script)</u>'''<br><br>''set ops235 is fun''<br>''for x''<br>''do''<br>&nbsp;''echo "argument is $x"''<br>''done''<br><br>''for x in $(ls)''<br>''do''<br> &nbsp;''echo "Filename: $x"''<br>''done''<br><br>''read -p "enter a whole number: " num''<br>''until echo $num &#124; grep -q "^[0-9][0-9]*$"''<br>''do''<br> &nbsp;''read -p "Incorrect. Please enter WHOLE NUMBER: " num''<br>''done''<br><br></li></ul>}}