Chapter 9. The Bourne Again Shell

9. The Bourne Again Shell

IN THIS CHAPTER

Startup Files	267
Redirecting Standard Error	270
Writing a Simple Shell Script	272
Job Control	280
Manipulating the Directory Stack	282
Parameters and Variables	285
Processes	300
History	302
Reexecuting and Editing Commands	304
Aliases	318
Functions	321
Controlling bash Features and Options	324
Processing the Command Line	328

This chapter picks up where Chapter 7 left off. Chapter 28 expands on this chapter, exploring control flow commands and more advanced aspects of programming the Bourne Again Shell. The bash home page is www.gnu.org/software/bash. The bash info page is a complete Bourne Again Shell reference.

The Bourne Again Shell is a command interpreter and high-level programming language. As a command interpreter, it processes commands you enter on the command line in response to a prompt. When you use the shell as a programming language, it processes commands stored in files called shell scripts. Like other languages, shells have variables and control flow commands (for example, for loops and if statements).

When you use a shell as a command interpreter, you can customize the environment you work in. You can make your prompt display the name of the working directory, create a function or alias for cp that keeps it from overwriting certain kinds of files, take advantage of keyword variables to change aspects of how the shell works, and so on. You can also write shell scripts that do your bidding, from a one-line script that stores a long, complex command to a longer script that runs a set of reports, prints them, and mails you a reminder when the job is done. More complex shell scripts are themselves programs; they do not just run other programs. Chapter 28 has some examples of these types of scripts.

Most system shell scripts are written to run under the Bourne Again Shell. If you will ever work in single-user modeas when you boot your system or do system maintenance, administration, or repair work, for exampleit is a good idea to become familiar with this shell.

This chapter expands on the interactive features of the shell described in Chapter 7, explains how to create and run simple shell scripts, discusses job control, introduces the basic aspects of shell programming, talks about history and aliases, and describes command line expansion. Chapter 28 presents some more challenging shell programming problems.