call function in bash

hi all,

i have a problem, i did search around but end up disappointed.

lets say i have 3 scripts script_a, script_b and script_c.
all this script is saved in the same directory
what if i want to call script_a and script_b inside a script_c

i've test this way;

#!/bin/bash
clear
if [ -e filename ]
./script_a
else
./script_b
fi
exit

but then, i cant call the ./script_a and ./script_b.
the error message show that there is unexpected before else.

how am i going to do this?

Try this:

#!/bin/bash
clear
if [ -e filename ]
  /bin/bash /fullpathname/script_a
  exit
else
  /bin/bash /fullpathname/script_b
  exit
fi
exit

thanks rob..

i will try

its working man..
u r great  

another problem...

i want user to enter a file name..
then i want to check whether the file is exist or not in home directory..
if exist.. copy to new file..

i wrote this way, but its not working...

#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter filename:"
read filename

cd /home/
if [ -e $filename ]
then
cp $filename /home/script/filename2
else
echo "The file not exist"
fi

the result: unexpected .... before else

hmm.strange, your code works on my machine, which i only change the path to my own path.
the thing i can suggest is to make sure your paths are correct...etc...
also, for debugging, you could try to put set -x in your script, eg

#/bin/bash
set -x
...
...
<your code>
...

This will show some debug statements in your output...

hehe
what a shame... it was my fault..

i should write this way

#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter filename:"
read filename
 
if [ -e $filename ]
then
cp /home/$filename /home/script/filename2
else
echo "The file not exist"
fi

thanks ghostdog74

i'm a bit confuse...

if i have something like this,
./var $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9

what would it used for actually..

assume your script name is "test.sh" and has something like this:

#!/bin/bash
...
./var $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9
....

this means, you are passing arguments from 1 to 9 passed to "test.sh" to the script called "var" at the current directory.

So assuming test.sh is a script  to store 9 user information, and user has these information
1) name = mala
2) tel = 12345678
3) house no = 100
4) favorite color = black
5) favorite number = 4
6) birthday = 12082006
7) car = mercedes benz
sex = male
9) city = somewhere

so when invoking the "test.sh" script, it look like this maybe:

unix#>  ./test.sh mala 12345678 100 black 4 12082006  "mercedes benz" male somewhere

and then all these arguments will be passed to "var" script in your "test.sh" script...
man, my english is not very good, hope you understand.

you r doing well man,

let me try, correct me if i'm wrong

so the ./var is another script to store all the data into
1) ..
to

9)
is it?

what about this.. am i correct?

./mala $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9

if [ $? = 0 ]; then

echo "success"

fi

does this mean that, if ./mala run successfully without error, it will return 0.
if there is an error, it will come maybe from $5.. or else..

am i right?

i just want to know if there is an error.

so the ./var is another script to store all the data into
1) ..
to

9)
is it?

what about this.. am i correct?

yes, basically, var is used to process those arguments passed from the first script.

./mala $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9

if [ $? = 0 ]; then

echo "success"

fi

does this mean that, if ./mala run successfully without error, it will return 0.
if there is an error, it will come maybe from $5.. or else..

am i right?

That will depend on how "mala" script is written.An example for "mala" script

Code: [Select]

#!/bin/sh
name=$1
tel=$2
....
....

if [ $tel="" ];then
   exit 1
fi

...
...

Then from the first script,  you check the return code

Code: [Select]

if [ $? -eq 1 ];then
    echo "telephone number is invalid"
fi

Similarly for other errors , you can assign an exit code...

This is just an example..

thanks man..

it very nice of u to explain to me clearly..

 

no problem  

oh man...
my head want to explode...

/home/script_a : [ : blog.txt : binary operator expected

from this error what can u see...

it just cannot open the blog.txt..

not really, is script_a a shell script ? or a compiled program?
please post the script content if possible.

you know what...
i change the directory by copy it to another dir of the blog.txt...
then its ok...