Shell Programming Training

Shell Programming Course Outline

• Introduction and Overview

  • Benefits of KornShell and Bash vs. other shells
  • Differences between bash, ksh88 and ksh93
  • Integrating scripts with external command-line tools

• Bash and KornShell Scripting Fundamentals

  Shell script elements

  • Commands and comments
  • Defining exit values

  Conditional program execution

  • Applying if and case statements
  • Simplifying if logic with elif

  Program loops and iteration

  • Conditional looping with while and until
  • Listing for loops

  Testing files and directories

  • Analyzing attributes
  • Checking file size and contents

  Strings and patterns using [[ ]]

  • Comparing strings
  • Verifying the existence of a string
  • Pattern matching and special characters

  Debugging

  • Redirecting standard error
  • set commands for debugging

• Storing and Accessing Data

  Positional parameters

  • Passing and accessing parameters
  • Manipulating parameters as groups

  Shell variables

  • Defining environment and local variables
  • Specifying default values and error conditions

  Arrays

  • Creating and indexing arrays
  • Processing array contents with special variables

• Processing Data

  Manipulating strings

  • Extracting substrings
  • Determining string length

  Mathematics

  • Arithmetic for and while loops
  • Writing mathematical expressions: (( )), $(( )) and let

• Modular Programming with Functions

  Function basics

  • Functions vs. scripts
  • Parameters and variables

  Creating a function library

  • Finding your library with PATH
  • Dot . and source commands

• Interacting with the Outside World

  Manipulating files and redirecting data

  • Scripting file and directory management
  • Unraveling the secrets of exec: opening and closing multiple files

  Interacting with running processes

  • Handling errors
  • Processing external events
  • Handling and sending signals: trap and kill

  Accessing network servers

  • Connecting to a network server
  • Exchanging data with a network server

• Creating "Production Quality" Scripts

  Ensuring environmental control

  • Checking and modifying environment variables
  • Using getopts to process command-line options

  Handling user actions

  • Accepting command-line arguments
  • Employing select to create a menu interface
  • Processing keyboard input