my first script for linux and how i did it

hey all!!

well i love playing the game neverball... and neverputt... opensource game for linux that is addictive beyond all reason.

http://icculus.org/neverball/

well.. when you compile this program it didnt really have an install.. it just built in the src directory.

well i was getting tired of

$cd neverball*
$./neverball

SOOO i decided to get dirty and write my first script!!!


i did some google searching and found this link

http://freeos.com/guides/lsst/ch01sec09.html

this was entirely responsible for me learning linux scripting... although from looking at them before i kinda knew what had to be where... so i knew what it should look like etc etc

and after some trial and error it worked!

its too simple but fantastic for a first throw at programming/scripting i think

it asks you to choose between neverball and neverputt
then it reads the keyboard output as $choice

then if choice equals 1 it launches neverball... if it equals 2 it launches neverputt...

if it equals 3 or more it says to choose 1 or 2 and exits.


simple... before i knew what code to use at all i was able to picture what the script would need to do and how i might be able to do it... i think that helped me being it gave me an idea of what i need to look for


in order for the program to work the neverball src dir needs to be in your home folder or ~...
i might expand on this and make it search for it...


SO comments, questions anyone?

For a first time, that is definitely a good job. One thing I'd recommend is that you stick to the basic shells versus the more specialized one as it will have more portability. In most cases you can, especially since you used bash here, use /bin/sh for greater effect since more are likely to have this versus bash, though bash is certainly more common than it used to be...

Another way you could have approached it, rather than ask for input, is to use command line arguments (i hate being asked for input from scripts :) )...pet peeve of mine I guess...It also goes to show you with shell scripting, there is almost always more than one way to skin a cat....

Code:

---

#!/bin/sh

if [ "$1" == "neverball" ]; then
        if [ -f ~/neverball/neverball ]; then
                cd ~/neverball && ./neverball
        fi
elif [ "$1" == "neverputt" ]; then
        if [ -f ~/neverball/neverputt ]; then
                cd ~/neverball && ./neverputt
        fi
elif [ "$1" == "" ]; then
        echo "load.sh <program>"
        exit 1
else
        echo "I don't know how to load $1"
        exit 1
fi

---

that is interesting, but can you explain that code to me aliitle more?

where do you input the data for $1, im presuming thats the command line option?

and i was wondering about the command line option but this made sense to me

Quote:

---

where do you input the data for $1, im presuming thats the command line option?

---

Yep.

Anytime $1 is used in a script it will be replaced with the first argument given on the command line. $2 is the second, $3 is the third, and so on. $0 is actually the name of the script, so if you change the name, you can always refer to it as $0.

I'd look at the Advanced Bash Scripting Guide to teach you some more. It progresses very well from the basics to the more advanced operations, and taught me almost everything I know about bash scripting.

Good job! Was certainly better than my first script!

Hi

Gratulations - I have to second Striek: my first script was
much more ...simpler :D

He also provided an excellent link - I like that advanced bash scripting
guide, and I use it from time to time.


Quick Ideas:
- extend on the possible ways of input. check whether some command arguments
have been given, if not switch to interactive mode
- do not exit when an invalid or unknown argument has been provided. loop.
and add an exit option.
- use variables for neverball's/neverputt's directories
- does neverball/neverputt comes with an executable or do you first have to
compile/link it? if so, then you could add a check whether ./neverball resp. ./neverputt
actually exists, and if not, compile/link it automatically...

May the scripting force be with you :D

Cheers

Excellent points from everyone...one other thing that I started thinking about when looking back at what I had done compared to your code...I would suggest surrounding your variables during a test with "" (that is what the [ ] in the if statement is doing). The reason for this is that if for some reason the variable is ever null, the test will fail b/c the operator you are using expects two arguments and will give you an error as such. If you surround it with "", the " will still allow for the variable value to be substituted (versus ' which does not, or ` which can be used to execute a command and substitute in the output) and you won't have to worry about a null substitution for the variable...

Hope that made sense...

yes that made perfect sense nebulus, thanks for your input

as for all of you thanks for your comments and ideas, il rework my code in afew hours when i get off work and repost later to see if i got it right

thanks all!