<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'>I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to do, but it appears you're confusing standard out with return code. Backticks `cmd` and $(cmd) capture the standard output of a command. That's separate from the return code, which is meant to be zero if all works or some other number indicating the type of error. The $? resolves to the most recent return code, but you could also do this:<div><br></div><div>if do_something</div><div>then echo ok</div><div>else echo sorry bub</div><div>fi<br><br>and bypass the $?</div><div><br></div><div>Sorry, in a hurry. Hope I didn't typo or make a mistake.</div><div><br></div><div>Scott<br><hr id="zwchr"><div style="color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><b>From: </b>"leam hall" <leamhall@gmail.com><br><b>To: </b>"Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale@ale.org><br><b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, September 17, 2013 12:06:44 PM<br><b>Subject: </b>[ale] bash return and exit<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div>I've looked at a few google searches and am not sure I understand what I'm seeing. In bash, I want to have a function do a test, and have a variable in the calling program set based on the function's actions. So far it seems as if I have to either "echo" the result or have the calling function use $?.<br>
<br></div><div>Calling script:<br><br></div><div>MY_VAR=`my_function`<br><br></div><div># This fails:<br></div><div>my_function() {<br></div><div> do_something<br></div><div> return $?<br>}<br></div><div><br></div><div>
# This works:<br></div><div><div><div>my_function() {<br></div><div> do_something<br></div><div> if [ $? -eq 0 ]<br></div><div> echo 0<br></div><div> else<br></div><div> echo 1<br></div><div> fi<br>}<br><br></div>
<div>The first function works if the parent's calls:<br><br></div><div>MY_VAR=`my_function; echo $?`<br><br></div><div>Am I looking for something that's just not in bash?<br><br></div><div>Leam<br><br><br></div><div>
-- <br><div><a href="http://leamhall.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mind on a Mission</a></div>
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