% CST8177 Assignment 06 - Shell Script Parameters and Control Flow % Wenjuan Jiang, Ian! D. Allen -- -- [www.idallen.com] % Fall 2014 - September to December 2014 - Updated 2015-09-06 00:56 EDT - [Course Home Page] - [Course Outline] - [All Weeks] - [Plain Text] Due Date and Deliverables ========================= > **Do not print this assignment on paper!** > > - On paper, you will miss updates, corrections, and hints added to the > online version. > - On paper, you cannot follow any of the [hyperlink URLs] that lead you > to hints and course notes relevant to answering a question. > - On paper, scrolling text boxes will be cut off and not print properly. - **Due Date**: `23h59 (11:59pm) Monday October 27, 2014 (start of Week 9)` - You have two weeks to do this assignment, but your next assignment will be available in one week and will overlap this assignment. Start work on this now! Don't delay! - Late assignments or wrong file names may not be marked. Please be accurate and punctual. - **Available online** - Version 1 -- 04:30 October 11, 2014 - Version 2 -- 21:10 October 11, 2014 (new due date) - Version 3 -- 14:35 October 24, 2014 (more hints for acolnew.sh) - **Prerequisites** - [CST8207 GNU/Linux Operating Systems I] - All Class Notes since the beginning of term. - All your previous [Assignments]. - An ability to **READ ALL THE WORDS** to work effectively. - **Deliverables** 1. One plain text file uploaded to Blackboard according to the steps in the [Checking Program] section below. 2. Directory structure and files created and left for marking on the [Course Linux Server] (**CLS**).\ **Do not delete any assignment work from the CLS until after the term is over!** Purpose of this Assignment ========================== > **Do not print this assignment on paper!** On paper, you cannot follow any > of the hyperlink URLs that lead you to hints and course notes relevant to > answering a question. 1. Create shell scripts that deal with parameters and flow control. 2. Practise with a text editor. Introduction and Overview ========================= This is an overview of how you are expected to complete this assignment. Read all the words before you start working. For full marks, follow these directions exactly. 1. Complete the **Tasks** listed below. 2. Verify your own work before running the **Checking Program**. 3. Run the **Checking Program** to help you find errors. 4. Submit the output of the **Checking Program** to Blackboard before the due date. 5. **READ ALL THE WORDS** to work effectively and not waste time. Each of the tasks below (except the first) asks you to write a small executable shell script, based on the lecture notes and slides. *None* of the scripts need command pipelines ("`|`") or Boolean expressions ("`||`" or "`&&`" or `-a` or `-o`); they are all simple scripts with simple conditional logic. Each script should begin with the Standard Script Header you used for your previous script assignments. When you have completed each script, ensure that it is executable, so that it can be run as `./scriptname.sh`. Run the given tests on your scripts to make sure they work. Sample output for each of the scripts is given, so that you may check your work as you proceed. Make sure your script handles *all* of the sample inputs given, especially the inputs containing shell metacharacters. (System crackers often attack your system using special characters as input.) You can use a [Checking Program] to check your work as you do the tasks. You can check your work with the checking program as often as you like before you submit your final mark. (Some tasks sections below require you to finish the whole section before running the checking program; you may not always be able to run the checking program successfully after every single task step.) > Since I also do manual marking of student assignments, your final mark may > not be the same as the mark submitted using the current version of the > **Checking Program**. I do not guarantee that any version of the **Checking > Program** will find all the errors in your work. Complete your assignments > according to the specifications, not according to the incomplete set of the > mistakes detected by the **Checking Program**. Save your work -------------- You will create file system structure in your HOME directory on the CLS, with various directories, files, and links. When you are finished the tasks, leave these files, directories, and links in place as part of your deliverables on the CLS. **Do not delete any assignment work until after the term is over!** Assignments may be re-marked at any time; you must have your term work available right until term end. The Source Directory -------------------- All references to the "Source Directory" below are to the CLS directory `~idallen/cst8177/14f/assignment06/` and that name starts with a *tilde* character `~` followed by a userid with no intervening slash. The leading tilde indicates to the shell that the pathname starts with the HOME directory of the account `idallen` (seven letters). Searching the course notes -------------------------- The previous term's course notes are available on the Internet here: [CST8207 GNU/Linux Operating Systems I]. All the notes files are also on the CLS. You can learn about how to read and search these files using the command line on the CLS under the heading *Copies of the CST8207 course notes* near the bottom of the page [Course Linux Server]. Tasks ===== - Do the following tasks in order, from top to bottom. - These tasks must be done in your account on the [Course Linux Server]. - **READ ALL THE WORDS!** and do not skip steps. - Run the [Checking Program] to grade your work, then upload the file to Blackboard. - Your instructor will also mark on the due date the work you do in your account on the CLS. Leave all your work on the CLS and do not modify it. - **Do not delete any assignment work from the CLS until after the course is over.** Set Up -- The Base Directory on the CLS --------------------------------------- 1. Do a [Remote Login] to the [Course Linux Server] (**CLS**) from any existing computer, using the host name appropriate for whether you are on-campus or off-campus. **All work in this assignment must be done on the CLS.** 2. Make an `assignment06` directory in the same directory as you made `assignment02` in a [previous assignment]. > **This `assignment06` directory is the [Base Directory] for most pathnames > in this assignment. Store your files and answers in this Base Directory.** 3. Follow the instructions in the first two steps at the start of [Checking Program] below to create a working symbolic link to the executable **Checking Program**. Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. Basic Scripts ------------- 1. **Arguments on the command line and positional parameters:**\ Create a two-line (plus header) script named `arguments.sh` that prints to the screen (standard output) these two things: 1. the number of arguments given to the script 2. all the arguments themselves, preserving blanks Examples: $ ./arguments.sh The number of arguments passed is: 0 The arguments are: $ ./arguments.sh one two 'three four' '*' The number of arguments passed is: 4 The arguments are: one two three four * $ ./arguments.sh foo bar >out $ cat out The number of arguments passed is: 2 The arguments are: foo bar $ ./arguments.sh /bin/* >out $ head -n 1 out The number of arguments passed is: 151 (number may differ) $ ./arguments.sh /usr/bin/* >out $ head -n 1 out The number of arguments passed is: 3491 (number may differ) Note that GLOB characters do *not* expand when output by the script. Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. 2. **Reading input from the user/stdin:**\ Create a three- or four-line (plus header) script named `user_input.sh` that prompts (on standard error) for input and reads one line of input from the user and then displays that input back to the user on standard output. The prompt may or may not end in a newline. Examples: $ ./user_input.sh Enter input: (may not end in newline) foo bar You entered: foo bar $ ./user_input.sh >out Enter input: (may not end in newline) * $ cat out You entered: * $ echo a b c | ./user_input.sh Enter input: (this line may not appear) You entered: a b c Note that GLOB characters do *not* expand when output by the script. **Hint:** The shell `read` command can be made to prompt for input (`man bash`), and it correctly displays the prompt on standard error. You can also use the shell syntax described in [Good Error Message] below to echo a message to standard error. Prompts must never disappear into the output file when standard output is redirected! Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. 3. **Conditional statements `if then else`, and `test`:**\ Create a script named `path_test.sh` that outputs a line saying whether a pathname (any kind of pathname) exists or not. The pathname will be passed to the script as the only argument to the script. The script must ensure that exactly one argument is supplied. If the argument count is wrong, the script will issue both a [Good Error Message] and a Usage Message (how to use the script) on stderr and exit with a bad status of `2`. The script will exit with a good status of `0` if the pathname exists and a bad status of `1` if the pathname does not exist. The script must have the following structure and use full `if then else` statements and not conditional operators such as `&&`: if the number of arguments is not 1, print a Good Error Message (see notes) print a Usage Message (how to use this script) on stderr exit the script with a status 2 if the argument is a pathname that exists, then print a statement that the pathname 'xxx' exists exit the script with status 0 else print a statement that the pathname 'xxx' doesn't exist exit the script with status 1 where `xxx` is whatever argument the user supplied on the command line. Examples: $ ./path_test.sh ./path_test.sh: Expecting one pathname argument; found 0 () Usage: ./path_test.sh pathname $ echo $? 2 $ ./path_test.sh a '*' c >out ./path_test.sh: Expecting one pathname argument; found 3 (a * c) Usage: ./path_test.sh pathname $ echo $? 2 $ ./path_test.sh path_test.sh Pathname exists: path_test.sh $ echo $? 0 $ ./path_test.sh .. Pathname exists: .. $ echo $? 0 $ ./path_test.sh /dev/null Pathname exists: /dev/null $ echo $? 0 $ ./path_test.sh /dev/sda Pathname exists: /dev/sda $ echo $? 0 $ ./path_test.sh /dev/log Pathname exists: /dev/log $ echo $? 0 $ ./path_test.sh nosuchfile Pathname nonexistent: nosuchfile $ echo $? 1 $ ./path_test.sh '*' >out $ echo $? 1 $ cat out Pathname nonexistent: * Note that GLOB characters do *not* expand when output by the script. Make sure you know how to write a [Good Error Message] to stderr. Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. 4. **Loop statements `while` and `test`:**\ Combine elements from the previous two scripts to create a script named `path_test_loop.sh` that is a looping version of the previous `path_test.sh` script. The new script will read pathname input from the user instead of using command line arguments. Copy the previous `path_test.sh` script to `path_test_loop.sh`. Modify the new script to generate a [Good Error Message] and Usage Message on stderr if any arguments are found on the command line. If there are any arguments, the script should state that it must be run without any arguments and exit with status `2`. Create a `while` loop that prompts and reads input from the user (until EOF) and then uses the input as a pathname to test that *write permission is granted* (`man test`). (Re-use parts of the previous scripts.) You will need an option to the shell `read` statement that issues a prompt to the user (`man bash`). The script must have the following structure and use full `if then else` statements and not conditional operators such as `&&`: while the script prompts and reads input from the user successfully if the input from the user is a pathname with write permission print a statement that the pathname 'xxx' is writable else print a statement that the pathname 'xxx' does not exist or is not writable Examples: $ ./path_test_loop.sh foo bar ./path_test_loop.sh: Expecting no arguments; found 2 (foo bar) Usage: ./path_test_loop.sh $ echo $? 2 $ ./path_test_loop.sh x y z >out ./path_test_loop.sh: Expecting no arguments; found 3 (x y z) Usage: ./path_test_loop.sh $ echo $? 2 $ ./path_test_loop.sh Enter pathname: path_test_loop.sh Pathname is writable: path_test_loop.sh Enter pathname: . Pathname is writable: . Enter pathname: ../.. Pathname is writable: ../.. Enter pathname: nosuchfile Pathname is nonexistent or not writable: nosuchfile Enter pathname: / Pathname is nonexistent or not writable: / Enter pathname: foo bar Pathname is nonexistent or not writable: foo bar Enter pathname: * Pathname is nonexistent or not writable: * Enter pathname: ^D (signal CTRL-D EOF to end the script) $ $ ./path_test_loop.sh >out Enter pathname: out Enter pathname: *** Enter pathname: ^D (signal CTRL-D EOF to end the script) $ cat out Pathname is writable: out Pathname is nonexistent or not writable: *** $ $ echo "." | ./path_test_loop.sh Pathname is writable: . $ $ ./path_test_loop.sh out ./acol.sh: Expecting one column number argument; found 6 (1 2 3 a b c) Usage: ./acol.sh colnum $ echo $? 2 $ echo a b c | ./acol.sh '' ./acol.sh: column number argument is empty Usage: ./acol.sh colnum $ echo $? 2 $ echo a b c | ./acol.sh ' ' ./acol.sh: column number argument is a blank (space) Usage: ./acol.sh colnum $ echo $? 2 $ echo one,two three,four | ./acol.sh NF three,four $ echo $? 0 Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. 6. Link `acol.sh` into your personal `bin/` directory using the name `acol` and use it whenever you need to see just one column of data. Take your `acol` script with you to your next job! $ last | acol 1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -5 93 kelleyt 90 user1234 87 idallen 82 user2345 77 donn0067 $ last | acol 2 | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -5 450 pts/2 403 pts/3 328 pts/5 235 pts/11 226 pts/8 Check your work so far using the checking program symlink. When you are done ----------------- That is all the tasks you need to do. Check your work a final time using the [Checking Program] and save the output as described below. Submit your mark following the directions below. Good Error Messages =================== Good shell script error messages must obey these four rules: 1. Error messages must appear on standard error, not standard output. You can use the shell syntax `1>&2` to send to stderr any output normally destined for stdout. See the examples below. - Usually `1>&2` is used on `echo` statements, to send the text to standard error instead of standard output. 2. Must contain the name of the program that is issuing the message (from `$0`). - Do not put the name of the script into the script; always use `$0`. 3. Must state what kind of input was expected (e.g. `expecting one file name`). - Do not say only "expecting one argument", since that doesn't say what *kind* of argument is needed. Be explicit. 4. Must display what the user actually entered (e.g. `found 3 (a b c)` - Display both the number of arguments and their values. *Never* say just `missing argument` or `illegal input` or `invalid input` or `too many`. Always specify what is needed and how many is "too many" or "too few": echo 1>&2 "$0: Expecting 3 file names; found $# ($*)" echo 1>&2 "$0: Student age $student_age is not between $min_age and $max_age" echo 1>&2 "$0: Modify days $moddays is less than zero" After detecting an error, the usual thing to do is to exit the script with a non-zero return code. Don't keep processing bad data! Checking, Marking, and Submitting your Work =========================================== **Summary:** Do some tasks, then run the checking program to verify your work as you go. You can run the checking program as often as you want. When you have the best mark, upload the marks file to Blackboard. > Since I also do manual marking of student assignments, your final mark may > not be the same as the mark submitted using the current version of the > [Checking Program]. I do not guarantee that any version of the [Checking > Program] will find all the errors in your work. Complete your assignments > according to the specifications, not according to the incomplete set of the > mistakes detected by the [Checking Program]. 1. There is a [Checking Program] named `assignment06check` in the [Source Directory] on the CLS. Create a \[Symbolic Link\] to this program named `check` under your new [Base Directory] on the CLS so that you can easily run the program to check your work and assign your work a mark on the CLS. Note: You can create a symbolic link to this executable program but you do not have permission to read or copy the program file. 2. Execute the above `check` program on the CLS using its symbolic link. (Review the [Search Path] notes if you forget how to run a program by pathname from the command line.) This program will check your work, assign you a mark, and display the output on your screen. (You may want to paginate the long output so you can read all of it.) You may run the `check` program as many times as you wish, to correct mistakes and get the best mark. **Some task sections require you to finish the whole section before running the checking program at the end; you may not always be able to run the checking program successfully after every single task step.** 3. When you are done with checking this assignment, and you like what you see on your screen, **redirect** the output of the [Checking Program] into the text file `assignment06.txt` under your [Base Directory] on the CLS. Use that *exact* name. Case (upper/lower case letters) matters. Be absolutely accurate, as if your marks depended on it. - Do not edit the output file. Submit it exactly as given. - Make sure the file actually contains the output of the checking program! - The file should contain near the bottom a line starting with: `YOUR MARK for` - Really! **MAKE SURE THE FILE HAS YOUR MARKS IN IT!** 4. Transfer the above `assignment06.txt` file from the CLS to your local computer and verify that the file still contains all the output from the checking program. Do not edit this file! No empty files, please! Edited or damaged files will not be marked. You may want to refer to your [File Transfer] notes. - Do not edit the output file. Submit it exactly as given. - Make sure the file actually contains the output of the checking program! - The file should contain near the bottom a line starting with: `YOUR MARK for` - Really! **MAKE SURE THE FILE HAS YOUR MARKS IN IT!** 5. Upload the `assignment06.txt` file from your local computer to the correct Assignment area on Blackboard (with the exact name) before the due date: 1. On your local computer use a web browser to log in to Blackboard and go to the Blackboard page for this course. 2. Go to the Blackboard *Assignments* area for the course, in the left side-bar menu, and find the current assignment. 3. Under *Assignments*, click on the underlined **assignment06** link for this assignment. a) If this is your first upload, the *Upload Assignment* page will open directly; skip the next sentence. b) If you have already uploaded previously, the *Review Submission History* page will be open and you must use the *Start New* button at the bottom of the page to get to the *Upload Assignment* page. 4. On the *Upload Assignment* page, scroll down and beside *Attach File* use *Browse My Computer* to find and attach your assignment file from your local computer. Make sure the assignment file has the correct name on your local computer before you attach it. 5. After you have attached the file on the *Upload Assignment* page, scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the *Submit* button to actually upload your attached assignment file to Blackboard. Use only *Attach File* on the *Upload Assignment* page. Do not enter any text into the *Text Submission* or *Comments* boxes on Blackboard; I do not read them. Use only the *Attach File* section followed by the *Submit* button. If you need to comment on any assignment submission, send me [email]. You can revise and upload the file more than once using the *Start New* button on the *Review Submission History* page to open a new *Upload Assignment* page. I only look at the most recent submission. You must upload the file with the correct name from your local computer; you cannot correct the name as you upload it to Blackboard. 6. **Verify that Blackboard has received your submission**: After using the *Submit* button, you will see a page titled *Review Submission History* that will show all your uploaded submissions for this assignment. Each of your submissions is called an *Attempt* on this page. A drop-down list of all your attempts is available. a) Verify that your latest *Attempt* has the correct 16-character, lower-case file name under the *SUBMISSION* heading. b) The one file name must be the *only* thing under the *SUBMISSION* heading. Only the one file name is allowed. c) No *COMMENTS* heading should be visible on the page. Do not enter any comments when you upload an assignment. d) **Save a screen capture** of the *Review Submission History* page on your local computer, showing the single uploaded file name listed under *SUBMISSION*. If you want to claim that you uploaded the file and Blackboard lost it, you will need this screen capture to prove that you actually uploaded the file. (To date, Blackboard has never lost an uploaded file.) You will also see the *Review Submission History* page any time you already have an assignment attempt uploaded and you click on the underlined **assignment06** link. You can use the *Start New* button on this page to re-upload your assignment as many times as you like. You cannot delete an assignment attempt, but you can always upload a new version. I only mark the latest version. 7. Your instructor may also mark files in your directory in your CLS account after the due date. Leave everything there on the CLS. **Do not delete any assignment work from the CLS until after the term is over!** - I do not accept any assignment submissions by email. Use only the Blackboard *Attach File*. No word processor documents. Plain Text only. - Use the *exact* file name given above. Upload only one single file of Linux-format plain text, not HTML, not RTF, not MSWord. No fonts, no word-processing. Linux plain text only. - **NO EMAIL, WORD PROCESSOR, PDF, RTF, or HTML DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED.** - No marks are awarded for submitting under the wrong assignment number or for using the wrong file name. Use the exact 16-character, lower-case name given above. - WARNING: Some inattentive students don't read all these words. Don't make that mistake! Be exact. **READ ALL THE WORDS. OH PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE READ ALL THE WORDS!** -- | Wenjuan Jiang, Todd Kelley, and | Ian! D. Allen - idallen@idallen.ca - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Home Page: http://idallen.com/ Contact Improv: http://contactimprov.ca/ | College professor (Free/Libre GNU+Linux) at: http://teaching.idallen.com/ | Defend digital freedom: http://eff.org/ and have fun: http://fools.ca/ [Plain Text] - plain text version of this page in [Pandoc Markdown] format [www.idallen.com]: http://www.idallen.com/ [Course Home Page]: .. [Course Outline]: course_outline.pdf [All Weeks]: indexcgi.cgi [Plain Text]: assignment06.txt [hyperlink URLs]: indexcgi.cgi#XImportant_Notes__alphabetical_order_ [CST8207 GNU/Linux Operating Systems I]: ../../../cst8207/14w [Assignments]: indexcgi.cgi#XAssignments [Checking Program]: #checking-marking-and-submitting-your-work [Course Linux Server]: ../../../cst8207/14f/notes/070_course_linux_server.html [Remote Login]: ../../../cst8207/14f/notes/110_remote_login.html [previous assignment]: assignment02.html#set-up-the-base-directory-on-the-cls [Base Directory]: #set-up-the-base-directory-on-the-cls [Good Error Message]: #good-error-messages [Quoting]: ../../../cst8207/14f/notes/440_quotes.html [Source Directory]: #the-source-directory [Search Path]: ../../../cst8207/14f/notes/400_search_path.html [File Transfer]: ../../../cst8207/14f/notes/015_file_transfer.html [email]: mailto:idallen@idallen.ca [Pandoc Markdown]: http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/