shell script while loop

[ykc#]

hi ,

i am trying a shell script, to wait untill user enter's y/n,

code :

yorn=' '
while [ $yorn == yes -o $yorn == no ]
do
echo 'do u want cont.. [yes/no]'
read
$yorn=$REPLY
echo 'u say '$yorn
done

each time it is giving different out put..,

./dep_1.sh: line 3: [: too many arguments
or some times no out put,,

can any one help me

thanks

[ykc#]

hi agian,

I am new to shell script, i am not understanding what mistake i did , any suggestions plz

[lomcevak]

First, when using the value of string variables you should enclose them with double quotes.

"$yorn" == yes instead of $yorn == yes

Next, your while condition is wrong. It's saying 'while value of yorn is yes or no'. Initially yorn is '' so the condition is false thus never entering the loop. Either change it to 'until value of yorn is yes or no' or 'while value of yorn is not yes and not no'.

Finally you'll have a problem with the line $yorn=$REPLY.

[ykc#]

Hi,
lomcevak u r fist suggestion is okey, when i try with that its not entering into while loop, thats not much useful,

next i am changing value of yorn in line 6:

$yorn=$REPLY
next i am printing that ,there the value of yorn is changing
echo 'u say '$yorn

any other suggestions ??

thanks
ykc

[Ziplock]

Hi there,

lomcevak's second suggestion is correct, you aren't setting $yorn correctly before entering the loop. The following should work:

echo 'do u want cont.. [yes/no]'
read yorn 
while  [[ "$yorn" == "yes"  ||   "$yorn" == "no" ]]
do
echo 'do u want cont.. [yes/no]'
read $yorn
echo 'u say '$yorn
done

Have fun.

[ykc#]

hi agian,
thank you Ziplock. i tried your code,

once i entered into while loop i am not comming out from it, what ever i entered.., including 'yes/no' ,

and i did some changes to that code, since yorn value is not changing at next echo
But still problem is exist.

 read yorn

at

 read $yorn

and other change is as per my requirment my condition should be

while  [[ "$yorn" != "yes"  ||   "$yorn" != "no" ]]

insted of

while[[ "$yorn" == "yes"  ||   "$yorn" == "no" ]]

,

now my code is this,

echo 'do u want cont.. [yes/no]'
read yorn
while  [[ "$yorn" != "yes"  ||   "$yorn" != "no" ]]
do
echo 'do u want cont.. [yes/no]'
read yorn
echo 'u say '$yorn
done

[Ziplock]

Hi there,

Yeah, your code would loop if you got 'yes' or 'no'. Sorry about the other yorn instance - that was a typo on my part. Glad you got it working though.

[lomcevak]

ykc#, you script still shouldn't work because of the while statement:

while [[ "$yorn" != "yes" || "$yorn" != "no" ]]

It's saying while value of yorn not equal yes OR not equal no. This condition will always be true so you stay in the loop. Why it stays in the loop is because the '||' says only one condition has to be true which it is as yorn will always not equal yes or no.

The while command should be:

while [[ "$yorn" != "yes" && "$yorn" != "no" ]]

which says value of yorn not equal yes AND not equal no. In this case the '&&' says both conditions have to be true to stay in the loop.

Hope that helps.