Bourne/bash shell scripts: case statement

Home -> Programming -> Shell script -> Bourne shells

From the computer of: Rex (39 recipes)
Created: Oct 22, 2003     Updated: Aug 30, 2004

Add to:

The case statement is an elegant replacement for if/then/else if/else statements when making numerous comparisons. This recipe describes the case statement syntax for the Bourne shells (sh, ksh, bash, zsh, etc.).

The case statement compares the value of the variable ($var in this case) to one or more values (value1, value2, ...). Once a match is found, the associated commands are executed and the case statement is terminated. The optional last comparison *) is a default case and will match anything.

For example, branching on a command line parameter to the script, such as 'start' or 'stop' with a runtime control script. The following example uses the first command line parameter ($1):