Shell Script: Find Number Of Arguments Passed

Many times , when we create shell scripts we try to do repetitive tasks through functions. Some functions take arguments & we have to check the no. of arguments that are passed to it.

Each bash shell function has the following set of shell variables:

[a] All function parameters or arguments can be accessed via $1, $2, $3,..., $N.

[b] $* or $@ holds all parameters or arguments passed to the function.

[c] $# holds the number of positional parameters passed to the function.

[d] An array variable called FUNCNAME ontains the names of all shell functions currently in the execution call stack.

Example

Create a shell script as follows:

#!/bin/bash

# Purpose: Demo bash function

# -----------------------------

 ## Define a function called test()

test(){

  echo "Function name:  ${FUNCNAME}"

  echo "The number of positional parameter : $#"

  echo "All parameters or arguments passed to the function: '$@'"

  echo

}

## Call or invoke the function ##

## Pass the parameters or arguments  ##

test linuxtechtips

test 1 2 3 4 5

test "this" "is" "a" "test"

Run it as follows:

$ chmod +x script.name.here

$ ./script.name.here