Linux Shell Scripting with Bash

Chapter 18. Final Topics

The arcane and the obscure. The obsolete and the advanced. This final chapter contains a mix of subjects suitable for those who need to know every last detail about the Bash shell.

The echo Command

The built-in echo command is an older form of printf. Bash provides it for compatibility with the Bourne shell. echo does not use a format string: It displays all variables as if "%s\n" formatting was used. It can sometimes be used as a shortcut when you don't need the full features of printf.

$ echo "$BASH_VERSION"
2.05a.0(1)-release

A line feed is automatically added after the string is displayed. It can be suppressed with the -n (no new line) switch.

$ echo -n "This is " ; echo "one line."
This is one line

If the -e (escape ...