2

I have adapted some code I had to handle just a single possible option. Either run the function or use the help option to give a brief description.

activate-jet ()
{
 local  iarg=0  narg="$#"
 while (( narg > 0 )); do
   opt="$1" ; iarg=$(( iarg + 1 ))
   case $opt in
     ("-h"|"--help")  echo "TODO" ; return ;;
     (*)  break ;;
   esac
 done
}

I would like to simplify it more if I can, without introducing any strange behaviour by the user when called.

Vera
  • 1,223

1 Answers1

1

This is a possibility, since you state that you only need one argument, therefore there's no need for looping or "casing":

$ activate_jet() { 
    [[ "$#" -gt 1 ]] && echo "Invalid number of arguments" && return
    if [[ ! -z "$1" ]]; then 
      if [[ "$1" = "-h" || "$1" = "--help" ]]; then
        echo "TODO" && return
      else
        echo "Bad argument" && return
      fi
    fi 
    echo "jet activated"
  }
$ activate_jet foo bar
Invalid number of arguments
$ activate_jet foo
Bad argument
$ activate_jet -h
TODO
$ activate_jet --help
TODO
$ activate_jet
jet activated

Now note that I changed the name of the function replacing the hyphen for an underscore: activate_jet instead of activate-jet, because the hyphen may not be compatible with some shells:

Conclusions

  • Hyphens are non-standard. Stay away from them if you want cross-shell compatibility.
  • Use underscores instead of hyphens: underscores are accepted everywhere.
schrodingerscatcuriosity
  • 12,396