Creating Text File Entries 2

[Michael42]

Hello,

On a Solaris 8 system using a Bourne shell script I need to create and populate a small text file. I know I could do the below but there are too many lines (50-ish) for this to be manageable.

echo "Line 1" >  myfile.txt
echo "Line 2" >> myfile.txt

I also thought about doing a HERE type variable using vi but I am not sure how to pass an Escape to vi dynamically. This would be great if I could do this.

vi myfile.txt << VI_SESSION
i
Line 1
Line 2
[COLOR=blue]<< Escape and save here??? >>[/color]
VI_SESSION

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Michael42

 

[hoinz]

Hi Michael,

you are trying much too complicated routes.
Just use cat, don't worry about escapes:

cat > myfile.txt << SESSION
Line 1
Line 2
SESSION

regards

 

[feherke]

Hi

(
  echo "Now is :"
  date
  echo "on my system :"
  uname -a
) > myfile.txt

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[Michael42]

Thanks very much guys. I was making this way to hard.

-Michael42

 

[Michael42]

One more related item please.

In using the cat method how can I ensure any text that uses a dollar sign ($) is not interpreted as a variable within my cat session?

Example issue:

cat > myfile.txt << SESSION
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3 MYVAR1=abc
Line 4 MYVAR2=$MYVAR1/dirx
SESSION

I want the line to stay "MYVAR2=$MYVAR1/dirx" and not replace the value of $MYVAR2 with the variable value of MYVAR1.

Thanks again guys,

Michael42

 

[feherke]

Hi

Escape it with a backslash ( \ ).

MYVAR2=[red]\[/red]$MYVAR1/dirx

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[PHV]

Why not simply this ?
echo 'Line 1
Line 2
Line 3 MYVAR1=abc
Line 4 MYVAR2=$MYVAR1/dirx' > myfile.txt

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ181-2886

 

[Michael42]

feherke,

Brilliant. Thanks sir.


PHV,

>> Why not simply this ?

Usually this would be fine. In my case it would be too tedious to maintain. The "cat" method for this instance is PERFECT.

Thanks again guys,

Michael42

 

[PHV]

How is ONE echo (writing directly to the target) is more tedious to maintain than a cat << (forcing the shell to create a temporary file) ?

 

[PHV]

Michael42, you don't want to answer my question ?

 

[Michael42]

PHV,

When I started UNIX scripting I used echo "my text" >> myfile.txt for everything. I thought it was better than sliced bread. When I discovered HERE (also called SESSION) variables it changed my coding style. To each his own. BTW, I am not trying to convince you of anything. You have helped me MANY times.

I just like this style:

SQLPLUS Example 1

$ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus << SQLPLUS_SESSION
set pagesize 5000
set linesize 120
SELECT * FROM mytable ORDER BY location;
exit
SQLPLUS_SESSION

FTP Example 1

ftp hostx << FTP_SESSION
bin
hash
cd /dir1/dir3
put myfile
bye
FTP_SESSION

To me the above is easier to maintain than the below as I just change what is in between the SESSION variables. These are small "session scripts". Imagine big yucky ones.:

SQLPLUS Example 2

set pagesize 5000 > /tmp/myscript.sql
set linesize 120 >> /tmp/myscript.sql
SELECT * FROM mytable ORDER BY location; >> /tmp/myscript.sql
exit >> /tmp/myscript.sql

$ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus joe/test@/tmp/myscript.sql

FTP Example 2 (I know you can use native ftp scripts - this is just an example\alternative)

bin > myxfer.ftp
hash >> myxfer.ftp
cd /dir1/dir3 >> myxfer.ftp
put myfile >> myxfer.ftp
bye >> myxfer.ftp

ftp hostx @ myxfer.ftp

Happy Coding,

Michael42

 

[chipperMDW]

I don't think you read PHV's suggestion.

He asked the maintenance difference between:

cat > file << EOF
[COLOR=red]Line of text 1
Line of text 2
Line of text 3
Line of text 4
Line of text 5[/color]
EOF

and

echo '\
[COLOR=red]Line of text 1
Line of text 2
Line of text 3
Line of text 4
Line of text 5[/color]' > file

The answer is that there is no maintenance difference, but there may be a performance difference.