Shell Scripting Recipes, 2nd Edition: A Problem-Solution Approach

Shell Scripting Recipes, 2nd Edition is filled with over 150 much-needed and practical recipes that follow a problem-solution format, and help all Unix users regain some of the lost time spent creating and testing shell scripts. Most scripts in this book are POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface)-compliant, so they are supported by many of the major shell variants, including Bash, ksh, and sh, among others. This completely updated second edition takes into account the many changes to shell scripting that have occurred since its original publication nearly ten years ago, and all the recipes are now relevant for a modern audience.

Each real-world example recipe follows the same structure and easily shows you what’s going on in each case. File conversion (DOS, UNIX, and Mac), system administration, and resource monitoring are just a few of the topics covered in this highly practical shell scripting reference. You will also find recipes for filename management, complex date calculations, screen control capabilities, and more.

Author Chris Johnson’s code is clear, direct, and applicable, and he explains everything well in each recipe so that you understand not just how to do something, but why to do it that way. Shell Scripting Recipes is an invaluable book and one to add to your library today.

What you’ll learn

• How to effectively use the POSIX shell and command-line utilities
• How to use strings, numbers, words, and filenames with ease
• Effective file management and file conversion (DOS, UNIX, and Mac)
• How to monitor resources effectively
• How to perform complex date calculations
• Manage a POP3 email server

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who has the basic knowledge of what shell scripting is and wants to learn how to use it properly. Each recipes is explained clearly and the book begins with the simplest recipes, so all you need is a basic knowledge of what shell scripting is.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The POSIX Shell and Command-Line Utilities
Chapter 2: Playing with Files: Viewing, Manipulating, and Editing Text Files
Chapter 3: String Briefs
Chapter 4: What’s in a Word?
Chapter 5: Scripting by Numbers
Chapter 6: Loose Names Sink Scripts: Bringing Sanity to Filenames
Chapter 7: Treading a Righteous PATH
Chapter 8: The Dating Game
Chapter 9: Good Housekeeping: Monitoring and Tidying Up File Systems
Chapter 10: Screenplay: The screen-funcs Library
Chapter 11: Aging, Archiving, and Deleting Files
Chapter 12: Covering All Your Databases
Chapter 13: Home on the Web
Chapter 14:Taking Care of Business
Chapter 15: Random Acts of Scripting
Chapter 16: A Smorgasbord of Scripts
Chapter 17: Script Development Management

Appendix: Internet Scripting Resources