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Variables+and+Shell+Expansions+Cheatsheet

The document provides an overview of shell parameters, including types of parameters and variables, as well as methods for setting and expanding variable values. It covers various expansions such as parameter, command, arithmetic, tilde, and brace expansions, along with their syntax and examples. Additionally, it highlights common shell variables and arithmetic operators' precedence.

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bruno novaes
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
1 views

Variables+and+Shell+Expansions+Cheatsheet

The document provides an overview of shell parameters, including types of parameters and variables, as well as methods for setting and expanding variable values. It covers various expansions such as parameter, command, arithmetic, tilde, and brace expansions, along with their syntax and examples. Additionally, it highlights common shell variables and arithmetic operators' precedence.

Uploaded by

bruno novaes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SECTION 2

VARIABLES AND
SHELL EXPANSIONS

SECTION CHEAT SHEET


PARAMETERS

DEFINITION:
Parameters are entities that store values

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF PARAMETERS

POSITIONAL SPECIAL
VARIABLES
PARAMETERS PARAMETERS

VARIABLES

DEFINITION:
Variables are parameters that you can change the value of

2 TYPES OF VARIABLES

1 USER-DEFINED
VARIABLES

BOURNE SHELL VARIABLES

2 SHELL
VARIABLES
BASH SHELL VARIABLES
SETTING THE VALUE OF A VARIABLE
name=value

Note 1: There should be no spaces around the equals sign


Note 2: Names of user-defined variables should be all lowercase

SOME COMMON SHELL VARIABLES

HOME Absolute path to the current user's home directory

PATH List of directories that the shell should search for executable files

USER The current user's username

HOSTNAME The name of the current machine

HOSTTYPE The current machine's CPU architecture

PS1 The terminal prompt string

Link to a list of Bourne shell variables

Link to a list of Bash shell variables


PARAMETER EXPANSION
SYNTAX:
Simple Syntax: $parameter
Advanced Syntax: ${parameter}

DEFINITION:
Parameter expansion is used to retrieve the value stored
in a parameter

PARAMETER EXPANSION TRICKS


1 ${parameter^}
Convert the first character of the parameter to uppercase

2 ${parameter^^}
Convert all characters of the parameter to uppercase

3 ${parameter,}
Convert the first character of the parameter to lowercase

4 ${parameter,,}
Convert all characters of the parameter to lowercase

5 ${#parameter}
Display how many characters the variable’s value contains

6 ${parameter : offset : length}


The shell will expand the value of the parameter starting at
character number defined by “offset” and expand up to a length
of “length”

Note: None of these alter the value stored in the parameter. They
just change how it is displayed after the expansion.

Link to list of more parameter expansion tricks


COMMAND SUBSTITUTION

DEFINITION:
Command Substitution is used to directly reference the
result of a command

Syntax for command substitution

$(command)

ARITHMETIC EXPANSION

DEFINITION :
Arithmetic Expansion is used to perform mathematical
calculations in your scripts.

Syntax for Arithmetic Expansion

$(( expression ))
ARITHMETIC OPERATORS RANKED IN ORDER OF
PRECEDENCE (HIGHEST PRECEDENCE FIRST):

OPERATOR(S) MEANING(S) COMMENTS

( ) Parentheses Anything placed in parentheses is


given the highest precedence and
is always run first.

Exponentiation.
**
2**4 means 2 to the power
of 4, which is 16

*, /, and % Multiplication, Division, and These have the same precedence.


Modulo.
Modulo calculates the
remainder of a division.

+ and - Addition and substraction These have the same


precedence.

Note: When two operators have the same precedence, the one furthest
to the left gets performed first.

THE BC COMMAND

Using the bc command

echo “expression” | bc

Using the scale variable to control the number decimal places shown

echo “scale=value; expression” | bc


TILDE EXPANSION

DEFINITION:
Tilde expansion provides various shortcut for referencing
folders on the command line.

SYNTAX MEANING

~ The current value of the $HOME shell variable (usually the


current user's home directory)

~username If username refers to a valid user, give the path to that


user's home directory

~- The current value stored in the $OLDPWD shell variable

~+ The current value stored in the $PWD shell variable

Note: $PWD stores the current working directory and $OLDPWD stores the
previous working directory
BRACE EXPANSION

DEFINITION:
A way of automatically generating text according to a
certain pattern.

SYNTAX MEANING

{1,2,3,4,5} 12345

{1..5} 12345

{a..e}
abcde

{1..5..2}
135

Month{01..12} Month01, Month02, Month03, Month04, Month05, Month06,


Month07, Month08, Month09, Month10, Month11, Month12

file{1..5}.txt file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt file4.txt file5.txt

~/{Documents, ~/Documents/file1.txt ~/Documents/file2.txt


Downloads}/ ~/Downloads/file1.txt ~/Downloads/file2.txt
file{1..2}.txt

Note: There should be no spaces around any commas or double dots (..)

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