On Sat, Dec 04, 2004 at 09:50:21AM -0600, Bill Gradwohl wrote: > Two questions: > > 1) When a BASH script is executed, the file that represents the script > must be read by the interpreter. Assuming the script is a long running > script, is it safe to modify the script while its executing? The real > question boils down to is the entire script read into memory or not > before execution starts, or is it read as needed from disk. I ask > because I'd like to test a script, and while its running and I see > errors, I'd like to modify the script without disturbing the executing > version. As other people have told you the whole script is read in before execution begins. > > 2) There seems to be no way to "goto" in BASH. If one has a lengthy > script that fails half way down, the only thing to do appears to be to > wrap the top half in an if that won't execute so as to skip that top > half and get to where the script should again restart. Is there a better > way to do this? Back in 1968 Edsger Dijkstra published a note in the Communications of the ACM, "GOTOs considered harmful". Since then programming language people have been well agreed that not only is the "goto" unnecessary in a programming language, it should never be used if the code is structured (or in other words easily deciphered). In other words the method you outlined above is the best way to construct a program. -- ======================================================================= Why not have an old-fashioned Christmas for your family this year? Just picture the scene in your living room on Christmas morning as your children open their old-fashioned presents. Your 11-year-old son: "What the heck is this?" You: "A spinning top! You spin it around, and then eventually it falls down. What fun! Ha, ha!" Son: "Is this a joke? Jason Thompson's parents got him a computer with two disk drives and 128 kilobytes of random-access memory, and I get this cretin TOP?" Your 8-year-old daughter: "You think that's bad? Look at this." You: "It's figgy pudding! What a treat!" Daughter: "It looks like goat barf." -- Dave Barry, "Simple, Homespun Gifts" ------------------------------------------- Aaron Konstam Computer Science Trinity University One Trinity Place. San Antonio, TX 78212-7200 telephone: (210)-999-7484 email:akonstam@xxxxxxxxxxx
