read Command

read [-r][-p xx][-a yy][-e] [zz ...]

• If zz is a single variable, the whole line of input is placed there when ENTER is pressed.

• If there is a second variable name, the first receives the first word and the second the rest of the line, and so on.

• If there are enough variables, one word is placed into each one in sequence.

• If there are not enough input words, excess variables are set to the null (also known as the empty) string, "".

• If there are no variable names given, the special REPLY variable receives all the input.

• The read command returns 0 in $? (the command exit status special variable) if it terminates normally with a newline (ENTER), or else $? is set to 1 if Control-D (end of file for stdin) or end-of-file (for another file) is found.