Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Math in Shell Scripts
Math in Shell Scripts
One thing that often confuses new users to the Unix / Linux shell, is
how to do (even very simple) maths. In most languages, x = x + 1 (or
even x++) does exactly what you would expect. The Unix/Linux shell is
different,however. It doesn’t have any built-in mathematical operators
for variables. It can do comparisons, but maths isn’t supported, not
even simple addition.
Shell script variables are by default treated as strings,not numbers,
which adds some complexity to doing math in shell script. To keep with
script programming paradigm and allow for better math support, langua-
ges such Perl or Python would be better suited when math is desired.
However, it is possible to do math with shell script.In fact, over the
years, multiple facilities have been added to Unix to support working
with numbers.
You can do maths using any one of the following methods.
1. Using expr command
2 Using $(()) construct.
3 Using let command
4 Using bc command.
5 Using $[] construct.
expr command:
expr command performs arithmetic operations on integers. It can
perform the four basic arithmetic operations, as well as the modulus
(remainder function).
$ expr 5 + 10
15
$ a=10 b=5
$ expr $a + $b
15
$ expr $a / $b
2
$ expr $a * $b
expr: syntax error
$ expr $a * $b
50
The operand, be it +,-,* etc., must be enclosed on either side by
whitespace. Observe that the multiplication operand (*) has to be
escaped to prevent the shell from interpreting it as the filename meta
character. Since expr can handle only integers, division yields only
the integral part.
expr is often used with command substitution to assign a variable.
For example, you can set a variable x to the sum of two numbers:
$ x=`expr $a + $b`
$ echo $x
15
Note: As you can see, for expr, you must put spaces around the
arguments: "expr 123+456" doesn’t work. "expr 123 + 456" works.
With double parentheses: $(()) and (())
In bash version 3.2 and later you can (and should) use $(()) and (())
for integer arithmetic expressions. You may have may not have spaces
around the operators, but you must not have spaces around the equal
sign, as with any bash variable assignment.
$ c=$(($a+9))
$ echo $c
19
$ c=$((a+9)) #Also correct, no need of $ sign.
$ c=$((a + 9)) #Also correct, no restriction on spaces.
$ c= $((a + b)) #Incorrect, space after assignment operator.
You may also use operations within double parentheses without
assignment.
$ ((a++))
$ echo $a
11
$ ((a+=1)) ; echo $a
12
$ ((d=a+b+9)) ; echo $d
26
$ ((a+=$b)) #Correct
$ (($a+=1)) #Incorrect
let command:
The let command carries out arithmetic operations on variables. In
many cases, it functions as a less complex version of expr command.
As you can see, it is also a little picky about spaces, but it wants
the opposite of what expr wanted. let also relaxes the normal rule of
needing a $ in front of variables to be read.
$ let a=10 # Same as a=11
$ let a=a+5 # Equivalent to let "a = a + 5"
# Quotes permit the use of spaces in variable assignment. (Double
# quotes and spaces make it more readable.)
$ let a=$a + 5 # Without quotes spaces not allowed.
bash: let: +: syntax error: operand expected (error token is "+")
You need to use quotes if you want to use spaces between tokens of
the expression, for example
$ let "a = a + 5";echo $a
20
The only construct that is more convenient to use with let is incre-
ment such as
$ let a++ ; echo $a # as well as to ((i++))
16
bc: THE CALCULATOR
Bash doesnt support floating point arithmetic. The obvious candidate
for adding floating point capabilities to bash is bc. bc is not only a
command, it also a pseudo-programming language featuring arrays,funct-
ions,conditional(if) and loops(for and while). It also comes with a
library for performing scientific calculations. It can handle very,
very large numbers. If a computation results in a 900 digit number, bc
will show each and every digit. But you have to treat the variables as
strings.
Here is what happens when we try to do floating point math with the
shell:
$ let a=12.5
bash: let: a=12.5: syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error
token is ".5")
$ ((b=1*0.5))
bash: ((: b=1*0.5: syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error
token is ".5")
I cant explain everything about bc here, it needs another post.
But I will give some examples here.
Most of the bellow examples follow a simple formula:
$ echo 57+43 | bc
100
$ echo 57*43 | bc
2451
$ echo 6^6 | bc # Power
46656
$ echo 1.5*5|bc # Allows floating point math.
7.5
$[] construct:
$ x=85
$ y=15
$ echo $[x+y]
100
$ echo $[x/y]
5
$ c=$[x*y]
$ echo $c
1275
Working of above methods shell dependent. Bash shell supports all 5
methods. Following shell script demonstrates above methods.
#!/bin/bash
# SCRIPT: basicmath.sh
# USAGE: basicmath.sh
# PURPOSE: Addition, Subtraction, Division and Multiplication of
# two numbers.
# \ ////
# - - //
# @ @
# ---oOOo-( )-oOOo---
#
#####################################################################
# Variable Declaration #
#####################################################################
clear #Clears Screen
Bold="33[1m" #Storing escape sequences in a variable.
Normal="33[0m"
echo -e "$Bold Basic mathematics using bash script $Normal "
items="1. ADDITTION
2. SUBTRACTION
3. MULTIPLICATION
4. DIVISION
5. EXIT"
choice=
#####################################################################
# Define Functions Here #
#####################################################################
# If didnt understand these functions, simply remove functions and
# its entries from main script.
exit_function()
{
clear
exit
}
#Function enter is used to go back to menu and clears screen
enter()
{
unset num1 num2
ans=
echo ""
echo -e "Do you want to continue(y/n):c"
stty -icanon min 0 time 0
# When -icanon is set then one character has been received.
# min 0 means that read should read 0 characters.
# time 0 ensures that read is terminated the moment one character
# is hit.
while [ -z "$ans" ]
do
read ans
done
#The while loop ensures that so long as at least one character is
# not received read continue to get executed
if [ "$ans" = "y" -o "$ans" = "Y" ]
then
stty sane # Restoring terminal settings
clear
else
stty sane
exit_function
fi
}
#####################################################################
# Main Starts #
#####################################################################
while true
do
echo -e "$Bold PROGRAM MENU $Normal "
echo -e " $items "
echo -n "Enter your choice : "
read choice
case $choice in
1) clear
echo "Enter two numbers for Addition : "
echo -n "Number1: "
read num1
echo -n "Number2: "
read num2
echo "$num1 + $num2 = `expr $num1 + $num2`"
enter ;;
2) clear
echo "Enter two numbers for Subtraction : "
echo -n "Number1: "
read num1
echo -n "Number2: "
read num2
echo "$num1 - $num2 = $((num1-num2))"
enter ;;
3) clear
echo "Enter two numbers for Multiplication : "
echo -n "Number1: "
read num1
echo -n "Number2: "
read num2
echo "$num1 * $num2 = `echo "$num1*$num2"|bc`"
enter ;;
4) clear
echo "Enter two numbers for Division : "
echo -n "Number1: "
read num1
echo -n "Number2: "
read num2
let div=num1/num2
echo "$num1 / $num2 = $div"
enter ;;
5) exit_function ;;
*) echo "You entered wrong option, Please enter 1,2,3,4 or 5"
echo "Press enter to continue"
read
clear
esac
done
OUTPUT:
[venu@localhost ~]$ sh basicmath.sh
Basic mathematics using bash script
PROGRAM MENU
1. ADDITTION
2. SUBTRACTION
3. MULTIPLICATION
4. DIVISION
5. EXIT
Enter your choice : 1
Enter two numbers for Addition :
Number1: 123
Number2: 456
123 + 456 = 579
Do you want to continue(y/n):y
PROGRAM MENU
1. ADDITTION
2. SUBTRACTION
3. MULTIPLICATION
4. DIVISION
5. EXIT
Enter your choice : 3
Enter two numbers for Multiplication :
Number1: 12.5
Number2: 2
12.5 * 2 = 25.0
Do you want to continue(y/n):n
Available link for download
