3

How can I use the integer value returned by a function in shell script that takes some arguments as input?

I am using the following code:

fun()
{
    echo "hello ${1}"
    return 1
}

a= fun 2
echo $a

I am not sure how should I call this function. I tried the methods below, bot none of them seems to work:

a= fun 2
a=`fun 2`
a=${fun 2}
Yogu
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g4ur4v
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3 Answers3

4

The exit code is contained in $?:

fun 2
a=$?
Hauke Laging
  • 90,279
1

you may have a look at the following question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8742783/returning-value-from-called-function-in-shell-script with a long and well explained answer. Regards.

Community
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Thomas Baruchel
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    Welcome to Unix & Linux Stack Exchange! While this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference. – terdon May 04 '14 at 10:59
0
#!/bin/bash

function producer_func()
{
    echo "1"
    echo "[ $1 ]"
    echo "2"
    echo "3"
}

function returner_func()
{
    echo "output from returner_func"
    return 1
}

#just print to stdout from function
producer_func "aa ww"
echo "--------------------"

#accumulate function output into variable
some_var=$(producer_func "bbb ccc")
echo -e "<$some_var>"
echo "--------------------"

#get returned value from function, may be integer only
returner_func
echo "returner_func returned  $?"
echo "--------------------"

#accumulate output and get return value
some_other_var=`returner_func`
echo "<$some_other_var>"
echo "returner_func returned  $?"
echo "--------------------"

nice bash tutorial, link points to functions invocation

vasily-vm
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