UNIX in a Nutshell: System V Edition

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The Bourne Shell and Korn Shell
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select

select x [in list]
do
     commands
done

Korn shell only. Display a list of menu items on standard error, numbered in the order they are specified in list. If no list is given, items are read from the command line (via "$@"). Following the menu is a prompt string (set by PS3). At the PS3 prompt, users select a menu item by typing its line number, or they redisplay the menu by typing RETURN. (User input is stored in the environment variable REPLY.) If a valid line number is typed, commands are executed.

Example

PS3="Select the item number:"
select event in Format Page View Exit
do
   case "$event" in
     Format) nroff $file | lp;;
     Page)   pr $file | lp;;
     View)   cat $file
     Exit)   exit 0;;
     *   )   echo "Invalid selection";;
   esac
done

The output of this script would look like this:

1. Format
2. Page
3. View
4. Exit
Select the item number:


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