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This page is an attempt to list some of the most common bashisms ie features
not defined by POSIX (ie don't work in dash).
It probably won't be exhaustive. Note also we talk about "bashism" because this wiki is largely bash centric
but a number of these extensions work in other shells like ksh or zsh.
= How to make bash scripts work in dash =
This page is an attempt to list some of the most common bashisms, i.e. features not defined by POSIX (won't work in dash, or general `/bin/sh`). It probably won't be exhaustive. Note also we talk about "bashism" because this wiki is largely bash-centric but a number of these extensions work in other shells like ksh or zsh.

== Syntax ==
|| ||'''Works in bash''' ||'''Change to for dash''' ||'''Comment''' ||
||defining functions ||function f { echo hello world; } ||f() { echo hello world; } ||"function" is not defined by POSIX, only "name ()" is. In ksh both forms are present, but functions defined with "function" work slightly differently. ||
||case ||`;;&` `;&` etc ||None. Duplicate the case (use a function to avoid code duplication) ||`;;&` `;&` in bash4 is not defined by POSIX. ksh93 has `;&` but not ;;&` ||
||numeric C-like for loop ||`for ((i=0; i<3; i++)); do`<<BR>>` echo $i`<<BR>>`done` ||`i=0 ; while test $i -lt 3 ; do`<<BR>>` echo $i ; i=$(($i+1))`<<BR>>`done` ||this syntax is not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh93. ||
||expand sequences ||`echo $'hello\tworld'` ||`printf "hello\tworld\n"` ||`$' '` is not defined by POSIX and is bash-specific ||
||extended glob ||`+( ) @( ) !( ) *( )` ||not always possible, sometimes you can use several globs, sometimes you can use find(1) ||not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh. ||
||select ||`select` ||some ideas: implement the menu yourself, use a command like dialog ||not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh. ||
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 * Brace Expansion, eg {1..10} is not defined by posix
 * <( ) >( ) process substitution is not defined by posix
 * Brace Expansion, eg `{a,b,c}` or `{1..10}` is not defined by POSIX. Both forms are present in ksh93, and the first form in older ksh.
 * The `<( )` and `>( )` process substitutions are not defined by POSIX, but can be simulated with FIFOs: instead of `foo <(bar)`, write `mkfifo fifo; bar > fifo & foo fifo` (this is basically how process substitution is implemented on OSes that don't have a mechanism like `/dev/fd/` to refer to unnamed pipes with filenames). It is present in ksh93.
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List of expansions not defined by POSIX:
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List of expansions not defined by posix:  * `${name:n:l}` -- if the variable contains no newlines, you can use `$(printf '%s\n' "$name" | cut -c $n-$((n+l-1)))`. If there are newlines, you can use `$(printf %s "$name" | dd bs=1 skip=$n count=$l 2>/dev/null)`, but printf may report a (harmless) broken pipe if the variable contents are large enough. This form is present in ksh93.
 * `${name/ }` -- you can use `$(printf '%s\n' "$name" | sed 's/foo/bar/')`, after changing shell patterns to regular expressions. This form is present in ksh93.
 * `${!name}` -- bash-specific; it is possible, but dangerous, to use `eval` to achieve similar effects; see [[BashFAQ/006]].
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 * ${name:n:l}
 * ${name/ }
 * ${!name}
Note that using `$( )` has the side-effect of removing trailing newlines from the results. Furthermore, since many standard Posix utilities, such as `sed`, require text files as input, you should ensure their input ends in a newline.
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[[BashFAQ/005|Arrays]] are not defined by POSIX (but are present in ksh); there is no easy general workaround for arrays. Here are some hints:
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 * arrays are not defined by posix.
 
 * The positional parameters are a kind of array (only one array):

{{{
#build a command dynamically see [[BashFAQ/050]]
set -- 'mycommand' 'needs some complex' 'args'
"$@"
#access the i'th param
set -- one two three
i=2
eval var=\$$i #take care if i comes from some user input see below
echo "$var"
}}}
 * use `IFS` and `set -f`

 * `eval` is powerful but dangerous so use it wisely. See [[BashFAQ/048|Eval command and security issues]].
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|| ||'''Works in bash''' ||'''Change to for dash''' ||'''Comment''' ||
||simple test ||`[[` ||use [ and use double quotes around the expansions `[ "$var" = "" ]` ||[[ is not defined by POSIX, but is present in ksh ||
||pattern matching ||`[[ foo = *glov ]]` ||use `case` or `grep` ||see [[BashFAQ/041]] ||
||equality with test ||`==` ||use `=` instead ||only `=` is defined by POSIX, `=` works also in bash ||
||compare lexicographically. ||`< >` ||no change ||present in dash and ksh, but not defined by POSIX. See note below for possible workarounds. ||
||compare modification times ||`[[ file1 -nt file2 ]]` or `-ot` ||`[ "$(find 'file1' -prune -newer 'file2')" ]` or `[ "file1" -nt "file2" ]` ||`-prune` is required to avoid recursion; present in ksh. `-nt` and `-ot` aren't specified by POSIX. ||
||check if 2 files are the same hardlink ||`[[ file1 -ef file2 ]]` ||`[ "file1" -ef "file2" ]` ||`-ef` is not defined by POSIX, but is present in ksh and Dash. ||
||`(( ))` ||`(( ))` (without the `$`) acts like a command on its own ||For simple comparison: `[ -lt ] (and -ne -gt -ge)` or `[ "$(( 3+1 < 5))" -eq 0 ]`. ||present in ksh ||
|| || ||To assign a variable `var=$((3+1))` || ||
Note: several standard POSIX utilities can be used for lexical comparisons. The examples below return a true (zero) exit status if the content of `$a` sorts before `$b`.
 * `awk -v v1="$a" -v v2="$b" 'BEGIN { exit !(v1 "" < "" v2) }'`
 * `expr "x$a" "<" "x$b" >/dev/null`
 * `printf "%s\n" "x$a" "x$b" | sort -c >/dev/null 2>&1` (also returns true if `$a` and `$b` are equal)
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 * [[ is not defined by posix
 * == as an argument of test (aka [) is not defined by posix
 * < > to compare numbers as argument of test are not defined by posix, though dash implements them
 * -nt, -ot, -ef are not defined by posix
 * (( )) is not defined by posix
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|| ||'''Works in bash''' ||'''Change to for dash''' ||'''Comment''' ||
||pre/pos increment/decrement ||`++ --` ||`i=$((i+1))` ||- ||
||- ||`let` ||`: $((i=i+1))` ||The `:` command can be used to peform side effects with an expansion ||
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 * ++ -- are not defined by posix
 
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|| ||'''Works in bash''' ||'''Change to for dash''' ||'''Comment''' ||
||redirect both stdout and stderr ||`>&` and `&>` ||`command > file 2>&1 or commnd 2>&1 | othercommand` ||- ||
|| ||`|&` (bash4) ||`command 2>&1 | othercommand` ||- ||
||duplicate and close ||`m>&n- m<&n-` ||`m>&n n>&-` ||not defined by POSIX ||
||herestring ||`<<<"string"` ||`echo | command`, or a here document to avoid a subshell (`<<EOF`) ||- ||
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 * >& and &> are not defined by posix
 * m>n- m<n- ie duplicating and closing a descriptor at the same time is not defined by posix
 * |& (bash4) is not defined by posix
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 * `echo -n` or `-e` -- POSIX doesn't define any options, and furthermore allows `echo -e` to be the default behavior. Instead use `printf "%s\n"` (for normal echo) or `printf "%b\n"` (for `echo -e`); leave off the `\n` to simulate `echo -n`.
 * `printf -v` is not defined by POSIX. Also the `%q` format is not defined by POSIX.
 * `read` -- the only option defined by POSIX is `-r`; ksh has a different set of options that only partially overlaps with bash.
 * `shopt`, and therefore all the options it provides (`extglob`, `nullglob`, `dotglob`, etc.) are not defined by POSIX and are bash-specific
 * `local` -- there is no POSIX equivalent. You can use `$funcname_varname` to reduce the likelihood of conflicts, but even that is not enough for recursive functions. You can ensure that recursive calls occur in subshell environments (so there is a "local" copy of all variables), or pass all "local variables" as parameters (because the positional parameters `$@`, `$1`, `$2`, etc are truly local). dash explicitly supports `local` as a non-Posix extension; ksh uses `typeset` instead, which works like bash's `declare`.
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 * echo. posix doesn't define any options, use printf
 * printf "-v" is not defined by posix. also the %b and %q format are not defined by posix
 * read, the only option defined by posix is "-r"
 * select is not defined by posix
 * shopt, and therefore all the options it provide, extglob, nullglob, dot glob etc ..are not defined by posix
== Special Variables ==
|| ||'''Works in bash''' ||'''Change to for dash''' ||'''Comment''' ||
||keep track of the times ||`SECONDS` ||`before=$(date +%s) ....seconds=$(( $(date +%s) - $before))` ||`date +%s` is not POSIX; see [[BashFAQ/070|this faq for more info]]. Present in ksh ||
||Generate a random number ||`RANDOM` ||{{{random=$(awk 'BEGIN{srand(); printf "%d\n",(rand()*256)}')}}} gives a number between 0 and 256<<BR>> {{{random=$(hexdump -n 1 -e '/1 "%u"' /dev/urandom)}}} and {{{random=$(od -A n -N 1 -t u1 /dev/urandom)}}} give a timer-independent number between 0 and 256<<BR>> {{{random=$(hexdump -n 2 -e '/2 "%u"' /dev/urandom)}}} and {{{random=$(od -A n -N 2 -t u2 /dev/urandom)}}} give a timer-independent number between 0 and 65535 ||Be sure to learn what `srand()` and `rand()` do, ie this method fails if you call `awk` several times rapidly. Instead generate all the numbers you need inside `awk`. Some systems also provide /dev/random and /dev/urandom , but this is not necessarily mandated by the POSIX standard. ksh has `RANDOM` ||
||Get the status of all the commands in a pipeline ||`PIPESTATUS` ||Simplest solution:<<BR>> {{{mkfifo fifo; command2 <fifo & command1 >fifo; echo $?}}}<<BR>> see NamedPipes ||bash-specific; see [[http://shell.cfajohnson.com/cus-faq-2.html#Q11|this faq]] and this script [[http://pipestatus.sourceforge.net/|pipe status for POSIX shell]] ||


== More ==
 * [[http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Bash-POSIX-Mode.html#Bash-POSIX-Mode|The bash manual]] has a list of the differences between bash running in POSIX mode and a normal bash.

Note that bash in POSIX mode is only guaranteed to run a shell written according to the POSIX specification. It ''doesn't'' mean that it will fail if you use bashisms in your scripts.

 * There is a handy perl script checkbashisms which is part of the debian devscripts package which can help point out bashisms in a particular script.

----

CategoryShell

How to make bash scripts work in dash

This page is an attempt to list some of the most common bashisms, i.e. features not defined by POSIX (won't work in dash, or general /bin/sh). It probably won't be exhaustive. Note also we talk about "bashism" because this wiki is largely bash-centric but a number of these extensions work in other shells like ksh or zsh.

Syntax

Works in bash

Change to for dash

Comment

defining functions

function f { echo hello world; }

f() { echo hello world; }

"function" is not defined by POSIX, only "name ()" is. In ksh both forms are present, but functions defined with "function" work slightly differently.

case

;;& ;& etc

None. Duplicate the case (use a function to avoid code duplication)

;;& ;& in bash4 is not defined by POSIX. ksh93 has ;& but not ;;&`

numeric C-like for loop

for ((i=0; i<3; i++)); do
 echo $i
done

i=0 ; while test $i -lt 3 ; do
 echo $i ; i=$(($i+1))
done

this syntax is not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh93.

expand sequences

echo $'hello\tworld'

printf "hello\tworld\n"

$' ' is not defined by POSIX and is bash-specific

extended glob

+( ) @( ) !( ) *( )

not always possible, sometimes you can use several globs, sometimes you can use find(1)

not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh.

select

select

some ideas: implement the menu yourself, use a command like dialog

not defined by POSIX. Present in ksh.

Expansions

  • Brace Expansion, eg {a,b,c} or {1..10} is not defined by POSIX. Both forms are present in ksh93, and the first form in older ksh.

  • The <( ) and >( ) process substitutions are not defined by POSIX, but can be simulated with FIFOs: instead of foo <(bar), write mkfifo fifo; bar > fifo & foo fifo (this is basically how process substitution is implemented on OSes that don't have a mechanism like /dev/fd/ to refer to unnamed pipes with filenames). It is present in ksh93.

Parameter Expansions

List of expansions not defined by POSIX:

  • ${name:n:l} -- if the variable contains no newlines, you can use $(printf '%s\n' "$name" | cut -c $n-$((n+l-1))). If there are newlines, you can use $(printf %s "$name" | dd bs=1 skip=$n count=$l 2>/dev/null), but printf may report a (harmless) broken pipe if the variable contents are large enough. This form is present in ksh93.

  • ${name/ } -- you can use $(printf '%s\n' "$name" | sed 's/foo/bar/'), after changing shell patterns to regular expressions. This form is present in ksh93.

  • ${!name} -- bash-specific; it is possible, but dangerous, to use eval to achieve similar effects; see BashFAQ/006.

Note that using $( ) has the side-effect of removing trailing newlines from the results. Furthermore, since many standard Posix utilities, such as sed, require text files as input, you should ensure their input ends in a newline.

Arrays

Arrays are not defined by POSIX (but are present in ksh); there is no easy general workaround for arrays. Here are some hints:

  • The positional parameters are a kind of array (only one array):

#build a command dynamically see [[BashFAQ/050]]
set -- 'mycommand' 'needs some complex' 'args'
"$@"
#access the i'th param
set -- one two three
i=2
eval var=\$$i #take care if i comes from some user input see below
echo "$var"

Conditionals

Works in bash

Change to for dash

Comment

simple test

[[

use [ and use double quotes around the expansions [ "$var" = "" ]

[[ is not defined by POSIX, but is present in ksh

pattern matching

[[ foo = *glov ]]

use case or grep

see BashFAQ/041

equality with test

==

use = instead

only = is defined by POSIX, = works also in bash

compare lexicographically.

< >

no change

present in dash and ksh, but not defined by POSIX. See note below for possible workarounds.

compare modification times

[[ file1 -nt file2 ]] or -ot

[ "$(find 'file1' -prune -newer 'file2')" ] or [ "file1" -nt "file2" ]

-prune is required to avoid recursion; present in ksh. -nt and -ot aren't specified by POSIX.

check if 2 files are the same hardlink

[[ file1 -ef file2 ]]

[ "file1" -ef "file2" ]

-ef is not defined by POSIX, but is present in ksh and Dash.

(( ))

(( )) (without the $) acts like a command on its own

For simple comparison: [ -lt ] (and -ne -gt -ge) or [ "$(( 3+1 < 5))" -eq 0 ].

present in ksh

To assign a variable var=$((3+1))

Note: several standard POSIX utilities can be used for lexical comparisons. The examples below return a true (zero) exit status if the content of $a sorts before $b.

  • awk -v v1="$a" -v v2="$b" 'BEGIN { exit !(v1 "" < "" v2) }'

  • expr "x$a" "<" "x$b" >/dev/null

  • printf "%s\n" "x$a" "x$b" | sort -c >/dev/null 2>&1 (also returns true if $a and $b are equal)

Arithmetic

Works in bash

Change to for dash

Comment

pre/pos increment/decrement

++ --

i=$((i+1))

-

-

let

: $((i=i+1))

The : command can be used to peform side effects with an expansion

Redirections

Works in bash

Change to for dash

Comment

redirect both stdout and stderr

>& and &>

command > file 2>&1 or commnd 2>&1 | othercommand

-

|& (bash4)

command 2>&1 | othercommand

-

duplicate and close

m>&n- m<&n-

m>&n n>&-

not defined by POSIX

herestring

<<<"string"

echo | command, or a here document to avoid a subshell (<<EOF)

-

Builtins

  • echo -n or -e -- POSIX doesn't define any options, and furthermore allows echo -e to be the default behavior. Instead use printf "%s\n" (for normal echo) or printf "%b\n" (for echo -e); leave off the \n to simulate echo -n.

  • printf -v is not defined by POSIX. Also the %q format is not defined by POSIX.

  • read -- the only option defined by POSIX is -r; ksh has a different set of options that only partially overlaps with bash.

  • shopt, and therefore all the options it provides (extglob, nullglob, dotglob, etc.) are not defined by POSIX and are bash-specific

  • local -- there is no POSIX equivalent. You can use $funcname_varname to reduce the likelihood of conflicts, but even that is not enough for recursive functions. You can ensure that recursive calls occur in subshell environments (so there is a "local" copy of all variables), or pass all "local variables" as parameters (because the positional parameters $@, $1, $2, etc are truly local). dash explicitly supports local as a non-Posix extension; ksh uses typeset instead, which works like bash's declare.

Special Variables

Works in bash

Change to for dash

Comment

keep track of the times

SECONDS

before=$(date +%s) ....seconds=$(( $(date +%s) - $before))

date +%s is not POSIX; see this faq for more info. Present in ksh

Generate a random number

RANDOM

random=$(awk 'BEGIN{srand(); printf "%d\n",(rand()*256)}') gives a number between 0 and 256
random=$(hexdump -n 1 -e '/1 "%u"' /dev/urandom) and random=$(od -A n -N 1 -t u1 /dev/urandom) give a timer-independent number between 0 and 256
random=$(hexdump -n 2 -e '/2 "%u"' /dev/urandom) and random=$(od -A n -N 2 -t u2 /dev/urandom) give a timer-independent number between 0 and 65535

Be sure to learn what srand() and rand() do, ie this method fails if you call awk several times rapidly. Instead generate all the numbers you need inside awk. Some systems also provide /dev/random and /dev/urandom , but this is not necessarily mandated by the POSIX standard. ksh has RANDOM

Get the status of all the commands in a pipeline

PIPESTATUS

Simplest solution:
mkfifo fifo; command2 <fifo & command1 >fifo; echo $?
see NamedPipes

bash-specific; see this faq and this script pipe status for POSIX shell

More

  • The bash manual has a list of the differences between bash running in POSIX mode and a normal bash.

Note that bash in POSIX mode is only guaranteed to run a shell written according to the POSIX specification. It doesn't mean that it will fail if you use bashisms in your scripts.

  • There is a handy perl script checkbashisms which is part of the debian devscripts package which can help point out bashisms in a particular script.


CategoryShell

Bashism (last edited 2022-10-20 23:13:29 by larryv)