From: eLinux.org

Scripting

Scripting is powerful technology especially valuable in embbedded Linux. It is used for building complex projects, building root file systems and distributions, system management, tests automation.

Most commons shells are bash on PC and busybox's ash on embedded Linux.

Contents

• 1 Shell scripting
  • 1.1 Shell scripting libraries
    • 1.1.1 Specialized frameworks and libraries
    • 1.1.2 Samples from books
    • 1.1.3 Historical
    • 1.1.4 References

Shell scripting

• Bash Reference Manual
• Bash Guide for Beginners
• Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide
• Command-Line Tools Summary
• http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/
• http://bash.cyberciti.biz/
• Top 10 Best Cheat Sheets and Tutorials for Linux / UNIX Commands
• http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/
• https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/bash
• http://www.techbar.me/linux-shell-tips/

Shell scripting libraries

• shtool The GNU Portable Shell Tool
  • man shtool
  • Portable wrappers to standard operations
  • 3000 SLOC, 19 functions, bloated
• Wicked Cool Shell Scripts, 2004, samples
  • Indeed cool shell scripts, worth to read
  • Most in interesting functions: 015-newrm.sh, 016-unrm.sh, 021-findman.sh, 029-loancalc.sh, 037-zcat.sh, 038-bestcompress.sh, 040-diskhogs.sh, 084-webaccess.sh, 100-hangman.sh
  • 4000 SLOC, 100 files-functions
  • Easy to use
• mbfl - Marco's Bash Functions Library
  • 5000 SLOC, 500 functions, bloated
  • The philosophy of MBFL is to do the work as much as possible without external commands.
  • Complicated to use
• @ aka monkey-tail
  • 300 SLOC, 20 functions, simple wrapper functions
  • Easy to use
• lib.sh
  • Single script, 300 SLOC, 40 functions and aliases
  • Easy to use
  • Most useful functions: make-debug, trap_err, readline-bindings, duplicates, fs_usage, system_status_short, git_fixup, tcpdump-text, git_ign_add, for_each, mem_avail_kb

Specialized frameworks and libraries

• Bashinator
  • Logging framework
  • 700 SLOC, 18 functions
  • Complicated to use
• libbash - tool for managing bash scripts
  • loads and unloads functions from scripts with commands source and unset
• bsfl - Bash Shell Function Library
  • 600 SLOC, 50 functions, logging functions, trivial wrappers
  • Easy to use
• shesfw - Shell Script Framework tool
  • 200 SLOC, 20 functions
  • unified interface to kdialog, Xdialog, zenity
• shUnit2 - xUnit based unit testing for Unix shell scripts
• log4sh - logging framework
  • logging framework for shell scripts that works similar to http://logging.apache.org/
• bashworks - something messy
• rerun - a modular shell automation framework to organize your keeper scripts
  • 700 SLOC, 30 functions

Samples from books

• Learning the bash shell, 2005, samples, 62 files
• Bash Cookbook, 2007, 99 files
• Classic Shell Scripting, 2005. 82 files

Historical

• UNIX Power Tools, 1997, samples
• Portable Shell Programming, 1995, samples
  • 1000 SLOC, 33 files-functions
  • Regular operations implelented in shell. Usedfull on out of memory (OOM) when there is no memory to run external programms.
  • easy to use

References

• List of Bash shell-scripting libraries

See also

• Android Scripting