bash while loop not exiting and not echoing

Question

So I have this bash script

function exec_do(){
while [[ 1 ]]; do
  read _INPUT
  if [$_INPUT -eq "exit"]
  then
    break
  else
    echo $_INPUT
  fi
done
}

The intention is so that if I type in exec_do then it does a while loop which reads the input and do stuff based on the input.

If the input is exit, then it exits the while loop

If the input is not exit then it echoes it

However when I run exec_do and then type in input It instead returns input: command not found And moreover typing in "exit" doesn't break the loop and also return command not found

What did I do wrong and how can I fix this?

iamauser · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-21 16:45:40Z

3

Your comparison for _$INPUT is a string, then you need ==. If comparing integers, you need -eq. Also double quote the $_INPUT variable for strings if they might contain white spaces or meta characters.

#!/bin/bash  

function exec_do(){ 
  while [[ 1 ]]; do  
    read _INPUT
    if[ "$_INPUT" == "exit" ]; then
      break
    else
      echo $_INPUT
    fi 
  done
  }

exec_do

edited Feb 21, 2014 at 16:45

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 15:58

iamauser

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2 Comments

sjnarv Over a year ago

Good fix, especially if bash will always be the shell that runs the script. If portability for simpler/older shells is ever needed (ash or ksh, say), older syntax may be needed: [ ] instead of [[ ]], no function keyword, = instead of ==.

iamauser Over a year ago

Since the OP has bash as a tag for his question, I assume he is using only that shell.

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