Bourne Shell

Bourne Shell (sh)

Initialisation

1. System file: /etc/profile
2. User: ~/.profile (environment and terminal settings)

Variables

• CDPATH - cd search path
• HOME - home directory
• IFS - internal field separator
• LOGNAME
• MAIL - mailbox location
• MAILCHECK - check time interval
• PATH - search path
• PS1 - primary prompt
• PS2 - secondary prompt
• PWD - present working directory
• SHELL
• TERM - terminal type

Built-in Commands

• . (dot)

Special Metacharacters

;      command separator
&      background process
()     command group in subshell
{}     command group without subshell
|      pipe
<      redirected input
>      redirected output
newl   command termination
space  word delimiter
$      variable substitution
*[]?   filename expansion

• Backslash (\) used for quoting a single character.
• Single quotes
• Double quotes

Publications

• Anatole Olczak: The Bourne Shell Quick Reference Guide - ASP 1991, ISBN 0-935739-22-X

Links

• Bourne Shell Tutorial