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syntax:ccmd:case [2013/04/14 12:33] thebonsai Don't tread version 4 special - it has been around for a long time now |
syntax:ccmd:case [2017/02/08 15:04] (current) fgrose [Description] describe the separation of PATTERNn from surroundings |
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| ===== Description ===== | ===== Description ===== | ||
| - | The ''case''-statement can execute commands based on a [[syntax:pattern | pattern matching]] decision. The word ''<WORD>'' is matched against every pattern ''<PATTERNn>'' and on a match, the associated [[syntax:basicgrammar#lists | list]] ''<LISTn>'' is executed. Every commandlist is terminated by ''<nowiki>;;</nowiki>'', this rule is optional for the very last commandlist (i.e. you can omit the ''<nowiki>;;</nowiki>'' before the ''esac''). | + | The ''case''-statement can execute commands based on a [[syntax:pattern | pattern matching]] decision. The word ''<WORD>'' is matched against every pattern ''<PATTERNn>'' and on a match, the associated [[syntax:basicgrammar#lists | list]] ''<LISTn>'' is executed. Every commandlist is terminated by ''<nowiki>;;</nowiki>''. This rule is optional for the very last commandlist (i.e., you can omit the ''<nowiki>;;</nowiki>'' before the ''esac''). Every ''<PATTERNn>'' is separated from it's associated ''<LISTn>'' by a '')'', and is optionally preceded by a ''(''. |
| Bash 4 introduces two new action terminators. The classic behavior using '';;'' is to execute only the list associated with the first matching pattern, then break out of the ''case'' block. The '';&'' terminator causes ''case'' to also execute the next block without testing its pattern. The '';;&'' operator is like '';;'', except the case statement doesn't terminate after executing the associated list - Bash just continues testing the next pattern as though the previous pattern didn't match. Using these terminators, a ''case'' statement can be configured to test against all patterns, or to share code between blocks, for example. | Bash 4 introduces two new action terminators. The classic behavior using '';;'' is to execute only the list associated with the first matching pattern, then break out of the ''case'' block. The '';&'' terminator causes ''case'' to also execute the next block without testing its pattern. The '';;&'' operator is like '';;'', except the case statement doesn't terminate after executing the associated list - Bash just continues testing the next pattern as though the previous pattern didn't match. Using these terminators, a ''case'' statement can be configured to test against all patterns, or to share code between blocks, for example. | ||