bash Scripts

[Lynn David Newton]

Ummm ... I respectfully beg to differ on these scripts.
There is nothing wrong with them

  >> #!/bin/bash
  >> for i in `seq 1 10`;

  jay> Try removing the ";" on this one. You already
  jay> have a CRLF because the "do" statement is on
  jay> another line.

This is true, but the semicolon won't prevent it from
running. In fact, it runs quite well.

  >> With the "while" and "until" scripts when they are run I get a ">" and it
  >> just sets there until I do a ctrl-c. The scripts are as follows:
  >> 
  >> #!/bin/bash
  >> COUNTER=0
  >> while [  $COUNTER -lt 10 ]; do
  >> echo The counter is $COUNTER
  >> let COUNTER=COUNTER+1
  >> done

  jay> There are a few errors in this one. Here is an
  jay> example that works:

A few errors? I don't think there are any at all. It
works fine as is. So does this one:

  >> #!/bin/bash
  >> COUNTER=20
  >> until [  $COUNTER -lt 10 ]; do
  >> echo COUNTER $COUNTER
  >> let COUNTER-=1
  >> done

The problem must lie elsewhere. I have two wild
guesses.

Clayton --

o What are you using for an editor? I suspect the
  presence of invisible characters.

o Is the #!/bin/bash (so-called shebang) string the
  *absolutely first* thing in the file, with no
  indentation, blank lines or stuff like that?

  Even if it's not, if you're running bash as a login
  shell, it would still run. (But the shebang *should*
  be present and correct on general principles.)

o Are you using some tool like MS Word to create the
  script? The file must contain no other characters
  than the ones you see visible, and there should be
  real characters at the end of each line.

As I said, the scripts work fine as you posted them, or
at least as they wind up in email, so there is
something funny going on behind the scenes.

-- 
Lynn