April 2011
Intermediate to advanced
840 pages
18h 7m
English
Chapter 16
Creating Functions
In This Chapter
- Basic script functions
- Returning a value
- Using variables in functions
- Array and variable functions
- Function recursion
- Creating a library
- Using functions on the command line
Often while writing shell scripts you'll find yourself using the same code in multiple locations. If it's just a small code snippet, it's usually not that big of a deal. However, rewriting large chunks of code multiple times in your shell script can get tiring. The bash shell provides a way to help you out by supporting user-defined functions. You can encapsulate your shell script code into a function and then use it as many times as you want anywhere in your script. This chapter walks you through the process of creating your own shell script functions and demonstrates how to use them in other shell script applications.
Basic Script Functions
As you start writing more complex shell scripts, you'll find yourself reusing parts of code that perform specific tasks. Sometimes it's something simple, such as displaying a text message and retrieving an answer from the script users. Other times it's a complicated calculation that's used multiple times in your script as part of a larger process.
In each of these situations, it can get tiresome writing the same blocks of code over and over again in your script. It would be nice to just write the block of code once and then be able to refer to that block of code anywhere in your script without having to rewrite it.
The bash ...
