Korn Shell Programming by Example

The .profile Script

In its simplest form, a script is nothing more than one or more commands lumped together in a file. The file has had its permissions adjusted so that the intended user(s) has both read and execute permissions. The most obvious reason for such a file is user friendliness. Using a script can save typing. Instead of typing the same thing over and over again, you can save the commands in a file and execute the commands by typing in the name of the script.

In reality, scripts are much more than that. Scripts typically contain a large number of commands, logic flow statements, and other information that simplifies a task. One other nice thing about a script is that it enables you to automate some process. For example, in my home ...