The UNIX™ Shell Programming Language

Welcome to the power of UNIX! With this book, you'll discover why UNIX's hundreds of commands are easier to understand and use than some "simpler" operating systems like CP/M^® and PC-DOS. The shell is the command interpreter for the UNIX operatring system. It is also a powerful programming language for quickly building software applications.

You'll learn how UNIX programs work together and how you can create your own UNIX programs without studying to be a programmer. The authors teach UNIX shell programming thrrough examples, with details on all the features of the shell, including:

• Integrated software and fast prototyping
• Input/output and string processing
• Programs to do menus, relational database commands, system utilities, and file update locking, among others
• The UNIX System V Release 2 shell
• The Korn shell
• The C shell
• Formal grammar, and much more

The UNIX Shell Programming Language is written for readers from a variety of backgrounds. Whether you're a novice at the computer, a devotee of some other operating system, or a seasoned UNIX programmer, you'll find all the information you need to make the power of UNIX work for you.

1. The Power of UNIX
1. Introduction
• What Is UNIX?
• What Is the Shell?
• What Is Shell Programming?
• The Shell Is a Program
• Bell Shell or C Shell
2. The Power of UNIX
• Other Approaches
• Many Data Formats
• UNIX Flat ASCII Files
• UNIX Commands, Pipes, and Filters
• Astronomical Possibilities
• Superhigh Level Programming
• Nonprocedural Programming
• Same Resistance
• Speed
• Memory
3. Integrated Software and Fast Prototyping
• Integrated Software
• UNIX Software
• Using Flat ASCII Files
• Open Versus Closed Integration
• Fast Prototyping
• Hardware Analogy
• The UNIX Approach
• Integratable Versus Integrated Software: More UNIX Power
4. Getting Started
• Logging In
• Logging Out
• Terminal Keyboard
• Commands
• Options
5. UNIX Documentation
• UNIX User's Manual
• Tutorial
6. The vi Editor
• Why vi Text Editor
• Getting In
• Getting Out
• Setting Up for vi
• Modes
• Entering, Editing, and Saving Text
• Executing Programs from vi
• vi As a Full Screen Command Editor
2. Operational Shell Commands
7. Shell Programming and Debugging
• Input a Program
• vi Editing
• Old ed Editing
• cat Editing
• Checking the Program File
• Make It Executable
• Run the Command
• Debugging Shell Programs
• Experiment
8. UNIX Files
• Directories
• Hierarchy
• Path Names
• Devices Are Files
9. Standard I/O and Redirection
• Stream of Characters
• File Redirection
10. Pipes and Filters
• Long Pipes
• Pipes Down the Page
• The freq Command
• How Pipes Work
• System Calls
• Automation
11. UNIX Commands
• The awk Command
• The bc Command
• The cat Command
• The date Command
• The dd (Data Dump) Command
• The diff Command
• The echo Command
• The grep Command
• The od (Octal Dump) Command
• The pr Command
• The rm Command
• The sed (Stream Editor) Command
• The sort Command
• The tail Command
• The tee Command
• The wc (Word Count) Command
12. The Shell Monster
• Filename Substitution
• ? Any One Character
• [ ] List of Characters
• [ — ] Range of Characters
• Quoting and Rewriting
• Window
• Multipass Multibackslash
• Positional Parameters
• The shift Command
13. Shell Variables
• Quoting Variable Assignments
• Using Shell Variables $VAR
• Standard Variables
• The set Command
• The env Command
• The export Command
• The .profile File
• Variables Set by the Shell
• Default Parameters
• Command Substitution
• Keyword Parameters
14. Control Flow
• if list then list elif list else list fi
• while list do list done
• case word in pattern) list;;… esac
• Example
15. Shell Built-in Commands
• Comment Commands
16. More Shell Meta Characters
• Background or Batch Processing
• Subshells
17. Shell Options, Inputting Data, and Parsing
• Command Line Only
• Command Line and set Command Options
• Inputting Data
• String Conversion
• String Parsing
• Parsing with the sed Command
• Parsing with a Call to Another Program
• Parsing with for and case
• Parsing with lex and yacc
3. Shell Programs
18. Administration
• Menu
• bin and Path
• Permissions and Groups
• $HOME/.profile
• Controlling the User
• Man Documentation
19. Recursion
• Directory Tree Search
• Towers of Hanoi
20. Style
• Sample Program
• SCCS Information
• Usage
• Exit Status Codes
• The TMP File
• The trap Command
• test Arguments
• Comments
• System V Interface Definition
21. Handling Arguments
• $# Argument Count for Required Arguments
• $1, £2, … Positional Arguments
• $* Argument List
• Options
• Unset Arguments
• Last Argument
22. Relational Database Example
• Tables
• Piping
• The join Command
• Compute and Validate
• Terminology
23. Screen Entry Forms
• termcap and termput
• Clear Screen
• Cursor Movement
• Output with echo and Input with read
24. Portability and Speed
• Bell vs. Berkeley
• UNIX Programs of Major UNIX Systems
• Programmers Time Vs. Computer Time
4. UNIX Shells
25. History of UNIX Shells
26. Grammar
27. UNIX System V Shell
• The Importance of System V
• The Bourne Shell
28. The Korn Shell
• New Symbols and Commands
29. The C Shell
• The csh Command
• Berkeley Enhancements
5. User Manual

A good complement to Kochan & Wood's book.