Special Nix Commands

The following are a set of special commands which the shell provides as stand alone statements. Input and output redirection is permitted for all these commands unlike the complex commands. You cannot redirect the output from a while loop construct, only the simple or special commands used within the loop list. 

• The colon ( : ) does nothing! A zero exit code is returned. Can be used to stand in for a command but I must admit not to finding a real use for this command. 
• The dot ( .   filename) reads in commands from another. If the filename following the dot is not in the current working directory, then the shell searches along the PATH variable looking for a match. The first match that is found is the file that is used. The file is read into the shell and the commands found are executed within the current environment.
• The break ( break [ n ] ) command causes an exit from inside a for or while loop. The optional n indicates the number of levels to break out from - the default is one level. Although not stated in the syntax rules, I have used this statement in an if then else fi construct to good effect in Simple Utility Functions where it causes an exit from the function but does not cause an exit from the calling script.
• The continue ( continue [ n ] ) command resumes the next iteration of the enclosing for or while loop at the [ optional nth ] enclosing loop. Can't say I've used this one either.
• The cd ( cd [ argument ] ) command is the the change directory command for the shell. The directory is specified with argument which defaults to HOME. The environment variable CDPATH is used as a search path for directories specified by argument.
• The echo ( echo [ argument ] ) command is the shell output statement. See the man pages for echo(1) for full details.
• The eval ( eval [ argument ] ) command reads the arguments into the shell and then attempts to execute the resulting command. This allows pre-emptive parameter substitution of hidden parameters or commands.
• The exec ( exec [ argument ] ) command reads in the command specified by arguments and executes them in place of this shell without creating a new process. Input an output arguments may appear and, if no others are given, will cause the shell input and or output to be modified.
• The exit ( exit [ n ] ) command causes a shell to exit with the exit status specified by the n parameter. If the n parameter is omitted, the exit status is that of the last executed command within the shell.
• The export ( export [ variable ] ) command we have already met and is the command which makes shell variables global in scope. Without a variable, export will list currently exported variables.
• The getopts command is provided to support command syntax standards - see getopts(1) and intro(1) man pages for details.
• The hash ( hash [ -r ] [ name ] ) command remembers the location in the search path (PATH variable) of the command name. The option -r causes the shell to forget the location of name. With no options the command will list out details about current remembered commands. This has the effect of speeding up access to some commands.
• The newgrp ( newgrp [ argument ] ) command is equivalent to exec newgrp argument. See newgrp(1M) for usage and description. The newgrp command logs a user into a new group by changing a user's real and effective group ID. The user remains logged in and the current directory is unchanged. The execution of newgrp always replaces the current shell with a new shell, even if the command terminates with an error (unknown group).
• The pwd ( pwd ) command literally prints the current working directory. Usually used to set the CWD variable internally.
• The read ( read name ) command will be seen in several examples. It allows the shell to pause and request user input for the variable name, which is then accepted as the variables value.
• The readonly ( readonly [ name ] ) command sets a variable as imutable. Once named in this command they cannot be reassigned new values.
• The return ( return [ n ] ) command causes a function to exit with the return value n. If the n is omitted, the return value is the exit status of the last command executed within the function. Unlike exit this does not result in termination of the calling script.
• The shift ( shift [ n ] ) command causes the positional parameters to be moved to the left ($2 becomes $1, etc.) by the value of n, which defaults to one.
• The test command is used to evaluate conditional expressions. See the man pages for test(1) for full details and usages.
• The times command prints the accumulated user and system times for processes run from the shell.
• The trap ( trap [ argument ] [ n ] ) command allows conditional execution of the commands contained within argument dependant on the shell receiving numeric or symbolic signal(s) n.
• The type ( type [ name ] ) command indicates how name would be interpreted if used as a command name.
• The ulimit and umask commands exist in their own right as UNIX commands. See man pages. 
• The unset ( unset [ name ] ) command allows names to be unset. This removes the values from the variable or function. The names PATH, PS1, PS2, MAILCHECK, and IFS cannot be unset. 
• The wait ( wait [ n ] ) command waits for the background process n to terminate and report its termination status; where n is the process id. With no arguments, all current background processes are waited for.

njoy the simplicity.......
Atul Singh