Shell script giving errors in ksh

Question

I have a script which runs fine when executed in Bash shell (with Red Hat Linux), however this same script which fails on a Solaris 10 (DB) server where ksh is being used to execute this script. This script basically reads line by line from a file and executes a stored proc (in Oracle). Below is my script :

#/bin/sh

for i in $(cat subscriber.txt); do

        SUBSCRIBER_ID="'$i'"
        sqlplus -s myuser/myuser  <<EOF
        execute delete_learnings($SUBSCRIBER_ID);
        commit;
        EXIT    
EOF
done

The error I get is :

./removeLearnings.sh: syntax error at line 3: `$' unexpected

Any idea what might be going wrong? Should I change the script to have the ksh? I am not able to debug on this machine since it's a customer environment (which I don't have access to).

Solaris /bin/sh is not POSIX compliant and does not recognize the $(…) notation — unless, perhaps, you have Solaris 11. Note that you're not using ksh; the shebang says #!/bin/sh and not #!/bin/ksh. — Jonathan Leffler
– Jonathan Leffler, Commented Mar 11, 2016 at 7:09

jlliagre · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-11 08:35:27Z

6

The issue is the $(...) construction which is POSIX compliant but unsupported by the legacy Bourne shell which /bin/sh is on Solaris 10 and older.

You can either replace your shebang to call the Solaris POSIX compliant shell:

#!/usr/xpg4/bin/sh

or use this legacy syntax (less recommended):

for i in `cat subscriber.txt`; do

edited Mar 11, 2016 at 8:35

answered Mar 11, 2016 at 7:14

jlliagre

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2 Comments

Sameervb Over a year ago

Either one of these should work right ? Sorry I am asking basic questions , kinda of a noob in unix :)

Sameervb Over a year ago

Cool , I've asked them to change it. Once it works I will mark your answer as the correct one. Thanks !

Sharan · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-11 07:47:23Z

0

you are trying to execute a sh( bourne shell) script on ksh (Korn shell). Try changing the shebang (#!/bin/bash) to (#!/bin/ksh)

answered Mar 11, 2016 at 7:47

Sharan

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Comments

tripleee · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-11 17:00:32Z

0

Looping over text files with for is a bad idea, anyway. See http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/001- the recommended syntax is more portable, too:

while read stuff; do
    : things with "$stuff"
done <subscriber.txt

You would normally use read -r but I don't know if that's available on Solaris.

However, very often, a shell loop is altogether the wrong approach. A single SQL invocation is a lot better and more robust:

( sed 's/.*/execute delete_learnings(&);/'
  printf "commit;\nEXIT\n" ) |
sqlplus -s myuser/myuser

answered Mar 11, 2016 at 17:00

tripleee

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