Bash/Functions - ArchWiki

# Bash/Functions

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Bash also supports functions. Add the functions to `~/.bashrc`, or a separate file which is sourced from `~/.bashrc`. More Bash function examples can be found in BBS#30155.

## Display error codes

To set `trap` to intercept a non-zero return code of the last program run:

    EC() {
    	echo -e '\e[1;33m'code $?'\e[m\n'
    }
    trap EC ERR

## Compile and execute a C source on the fly

The following function will compile (within the `/tmp/` directory) and execute the C source argument on the fly (and the execution will be without arguments). And finally, after program terminates, will remove the compiled file.

    # Compile and execute a C source on the fly
    csource() {
    	[[ $1 ]]    || { echo "Missing operand" >&2; return 1; }
    	[[ -r $1 ]] || { printf "File %s does not exist or is not readable\n" "$1" >&2; return 1; }
    	local output_path=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/${1##*/};
    	gcc "$1" -o "$output_path" && "$output_path";
    	rm "$output_path";
    	return 0;
    }

## Extract

The following function will extract a wide range of compressed file types. Use it with the syntax `extract <file1> <file2> ...`

    extract() {
        local c e i

        (($#)) || return

        for i; do
            c=''
            e=1

            if [[ ! -r $i ]]; then
                echo "$0: file is unreadable: \`$i'" >&2
                continue
            fi

            case $i in
                *.t@(gz|lz|xz|b@(2|z?(2))|a@(z|r?(.@(Z|bz?(2)|gz|lzma|xz)))))
                       c=(bsdtar xvf);;
                *.7z)  c=(7z x);;
                *.Z)   c=(uncompress);;
                *.bz2) c=(bunzip2);;
                *.exe) c=(cabextract);;
                *.gz)  c=(gunzip);;
                *.rar) c=(unrar x);;
                *.xz)  c=(unxz);;
                *.zip) c=(unzip);;
                *.zst) c=(unzstd);;
                *)     echo "$0: unrecognized file extension: \`$i'" >&2
                       continue;;
            esac

            command "${c[@]}" "$i"
            ((e = e || $?))
        done
        return "$e"
    }

Note: Make sure `extglob` is enabled: `shopt -s extglob`, by adding it to the `~/.bashrc` (see gregswiki:glob#Options which change globbing behavior).

Another way to do this is to install a specialized package, see Archiving and compression tools#Convenience tools.

## cd and ls in one

Very often changing to a directory is followed by the `ls` command to list its contents. Therefore it is helpful to have a second function doing both at once. In this example we will name it `cl` (change list) and show an error message if the specified directory does not exist.

    cl() {
    	local dir="$1"
    	local dir="${dir:=$HOME}"
    	if [[ -d "$dir" ]]; then
    		cd "$dir" >/dev/null; ls
    	else
    		echo "bash: cl: $dir: Directory not found"
    	fi
    }

Of course the ls command can be altered to fit your needs, for example `ls -hall --color=auto`.

## Simple note taker

    note () {
        # if file doesn't exist, create it
        if [[ ! -f $HOME/.notes ]]; then
            touch "$HOME/.notes"
        fi

        if ! (($#)); then
            # no arguments, print file
            cat "$HOME/.notes"
        elif [[ "$1" == "-c" ]]; then
            # clear file
            printf "%s" > "$HOME/.notes"
        else
            # add all arguments to file
            printf "%s\n" "$*" >> "$HOME/.notes"
        fi
    }

## Simple task utility

Inspired by #Simple note taker

    todo() {
        if [[ ! -f $HOME/.todo ]]; then
            touch "$HOME/.todo"
        fi

        if ! (($#)); then
            cat "$HOME/.todo"
        elif [[ "$1" == "-l" ]]; then
            nl -b a "$HOME/.todo"
        elif [[ "$1" == "-c" ]]; then
            > $HOME/.todo
        elif [[ "$1" == "-r" ]]; then
            nl -b a "$HOME/.todo"
            eval printf %.0s- '{1..'"${COLUMNS:-$(tput cols)}"\}; echo
            read -p "Type a number to remove: " number
            sed -i ${number}d $HOME/.todo "$HOME/.todo"
        else
            printf "%s\n" "$*" >> "$HOME/.todo"
        fi
    }

## Calculator

    calc() {
        echo "scale=3;$@" | bc -l
    }

## Kingbash

Kingbash - menu driven auto-completion (see BBS#101010).

Install kingbash-gb-gitAUR from the AUR, then insert the following into your `~/.bashrc`:

    function kingbash.fn() {
        echo -n "KingBash> $READLINE_LINE" #Where "KingBash> " looks best if it resembles your PS1, at least in length.
        OUTPUT=$(/usr/bin/kingbash "$(compgen -ab -A function)")
        READLINE_POINT=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | tail -n 1)
        READLINE_LINE=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | head -n -1)
        echo -ne "\r\e[2K"
    }
    bind -x '"\t":kingbash.fn'

## IP info

Detailed information on an IP address or hostname in bash via https://ipinfo.io:

    ipif() {
        if grep -P "(([1-9]\d{0,2})\.){3}(?2)" <<< "$1"; then
    	 curl ipinfo.io/"$1"
        else
    	ipawk=($(host "$1" | awk '/address/ { print $NF }'))
    	curl ipinfo.io/${ipawk[1]}
        fi
        echo
    }

Note: Bash is limited to extended regular expressions; this example uses perl regular expressions with grep. [1]
Category:

- Command-line shells