[TCLUG] more silly shell tricks

[Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom]

here's how you write a 'spinner'. 

#!/bin/bash
progress=0
while [ $progress -lt 10 ]; do
        progress=$(($progress+1))
        [ "$progress" -ge "4" ] && progress=0
        [ "$progress" -eq "0" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t/"
        [ "$progress" -eq "1" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t-"
        [ "$progress" -eq "2" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\\"
        [ "$progress" -eq "3" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|"
        sleep 1
done
echo ''

if processing files, one can use a 'for' loop in place of the 'while' loop
above, and turn the spinner one position for each file that gets processed.
like:

for filename in $listofnames; do
	<whatever>
        progress=$(($progress+1))
        [ "$progress" -ge "4" ] && progress=0
        [ "$progress" -eq "0" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t/"
        [ "$progress" -eq "1" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t-"
        [ "$progress" -eq "2" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\\"
        [ "$progress" -eq "3" ] && echo -en "\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|"
done

Carl Soderstrom.
-- 
Network Engineer
Real-Time Enterprises
www.real-time.com