Overview of Unix Shell Functions:
Shell Functions are used to specify the blocks of commands that may be repeatedly invoked at different stages of execution.
The main advantages of using Unix Shell Functions are to reuse the code and to test the code in a modular way.
This tutorial will explain to you all about Functions in Unix.
Unix Video #18:
Working with Functions in Unix
Shell functions typically do not return the result to the calling code. Instead, global variables or output streams are used to communicate the result. The variable ‘errno’ is often used to communicate whether a command ran successfully or not.
A number of commands also print out their result into the ‘stdout’ stream so that the calling function can read into a variable.
In this tutorial we will cover:
- How to create functions
- Passing parameters to a function
- Returning a value from a function
Syntax for defining functions:
function_name()
{
…
<statements>
…
}
To invoke a function, simply use the function name as a command.
Example:
$ function_name
To pass parameters to the function, add space-separated arguments like other commands.
Example:
$ function_name $arg1 $arg2 $arg3
The passed parameters can be accessed inside the function using the standard positional variables i.e. $0, $1, $2, $3, etc.
Example:
function_name()
{
…
c = $1 + $2
…
}
Functions can return values using any one of the three methods:
#1) Change the state of a variable or variables.
#2) Use the return command to end the function and return the supplied value to the calling section of the shell script.
Example:
function_name()
{
echo “hello $1”
return 1
}
Running the function with a single parameter will echo the value.
$ function_name ram hello ram
Capturing the return value (stored in $?) as follows:
$ echo $? 1
#3) Capture the output echoed to the stdout.
Example:
$ var = `function_nameram` $ echo $var hello ram
Check our upcoming tutorial to know more about Text Processing in Unix.