write count to a global variable before you exit the loop > -----Original Message----- > From: Dan Ferris [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 1:05 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [newbie] shell programming question > > Hi- > > I am attempting to write a shell program for a school class that > uses finger to find users who have never logged on. It is a > Bourne shell program, nothing fancy. > > Here is the code. It is pretty short: > > #/bin/sh > export count=0 > cat /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1,5 | tr ":" " " | tr "," " " | > while read userid username > do > if finger $userid | grep "Never logged in." 1> /dev/null > then > echo "$userid ( $username ) has never logged on." > count=`expr $count + 1` > fi > done > > This program works. Only problem is that it is required to count > the number of users who have not logged on. The variable count > is exported so that the loop can use it. Of course the loop is > executed inside a subshell, so getting the new value out of the > loop is...well...not obvious. > > Can anyone tell me how to get the new value of the variable out > of the subshell and back to the original shell??? > > TIA, > Dan > > -- > Any programming language is at its best before it is implemented > and used.
