input

NAME

SYNOPSIS

input "prompt" [ "default input" [ options ]]

AVAILABILITY

DESCRIPTION

It is possible to verify the users input using a number of options. As long as the input does not conform to the option specified the input prompt is repeated.

It is also possible to specify a default value that takes in effect when <ENTER> or <RETURN> without entering an input is pressed.

All input is logged to a logfile if the environment variable $EDRC_LOGFILE is set and the NO_LOG option isn't set.

OPTIONS

usage message

"prompt"

prompt to be displayed.

"default input"

default input. This input will be returned if the <ENTER> key is pressed without entering anything on the input prompt.

options

a list of comma separated options of the list below. The input is verified against all options listed. Therefore be careful not to provide an option list that makes it impossible to enter any data (e.g. ALPHA,DIGIT ).

NOT_NULL

null input is not accepted.

NO_LOG

do not record the input to the logfile.

NO_TRIM

do not trim whitespaces from begin and end of input. Default is to trim those whitespaces.

Hint: If the input is a whitespace and the option NOT_NULL is set, the input is not accepted.

NO_ECHO

do not echo the input to stdout. This is useful if you query passwords.

LOG_STARS

log stars (*****) to the logfile instead of the real input. This option should be used always if you query passwords with the input command.

TTY

read input from tty and write prompt to tty.

MINLEN=len

accept only input with a minimal length of len.

MAXLEN=len

accept only input up to a maximal length of len.

ALPHA

accept only inputs consisting of letters (a - Z).

DIGIT

accept only numbers as unsigned integer values (0 - 9).

FLOAT

accept only numbers as signed floating point values. Examples: +.125, +0.125, 0.125, 3.1415, 815, -.125, -0.125, -3.1415, -815.

ALNUM

accept only alphanumeric input (a - Z, 0 - 9).

ALNUM+SPACE

accept only alphanumeric input including spaces (a - Z, 0 - 9, ' ').

ALNUM+_

accept only alphanumeric and _ (a - Z, 0 - 9, _).

IPV4

accept only IP version 4 addresses (0.0.0.0 - 255.255.255.255).

HH:MM

accept only time values in the format HH:MM (00:00 - 24:00).

HH:MM:SS

accept only time values in the format HH:MM:SS (00:00:00 - 24:00:00).

HHH:MM

accept only time (hour:minutes) values in the format hour:MM (00:00 - 9999999:59) in contrast to HH:MM, the hours are not limited to 24 hours.

HHH:MM:SS

accept only time values in the format hour:MM:SS (00:00:00 - 9999999:59:59) in contrast to HH:MM:SS, the hours are not limited to 24 hours.

MM/DD

accept only dates (month and day) in the format MM/DD (01/01 - 12/31).

MM/DD/YYYY

accept only dates in the format MM/DD/YYYY (01/01/0000 - 12/31/9999).

DD.MM

accept only dates (day and month) in the format DD.MM (01.01 - 31.12).

DD.MM.YYYY

accept only dates in the format DD.MM.YYYY (01.01.0000 - 31.12.9999).

YYYY-MM-DD

accept only dates in the military format YYYY-MM-DD (0000-01-01 - 9999-12-31).

ENVIRONMENT

$EDRC_LOGFILE

the accepted input read by input is logged to the file specified in this environment variable (if set).

EXIT STATUS

0

no error.

2

command aborted pressing Ctrl+C.

4

usage listed.

FILES

/dev/tty

terminal device file when option TTY is used. This device file is read if the resolution of the current pseudo device of the terminal is not possible.

EXAMPLES

1) filename input

filename=`input "Package Filename" "" NOT_NULL,ALNUM+_`

2) input a number and log everything to a logfile

Logfile=/var/log/process_counts.log
EDRC_LOGFILE=$Logfile; export EDRC_LOGFILE

pause=40
ok=n

{
        while [ ok != y ]; then
                pause=`input "pause between process counts" $pause DIGIT`
                ok=`choice "input OK? <yn>" yn n`
        done

        echo "press <Ctrl>+<C> to stop"
        while [ 1 = 1 ]; do
                echo "number of processes: `ps -ef | wc -l`"
                sleep $pause
        done
} >> $Logfile

3) prompt for a password input

Logfile=/var/log/passwordchange.log
EDRC_LOGFILE=$Logfile; export EDRC_LOGFILE

new=new
verify=verify

while [ "$new" != "$verify" ]; then
        new=`input "New password" "" NOT_NULL,LOG_STARS,NO_ECHO`
        verify=`input "Retype new password" "" NOT_NULL,LOG_STARS,NO_ECHO`
done

SEE ALSO

NOTES

BUGS

AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT

This is free software; see edrc/doc/COPYING for copying conditions. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.