Hello, first post, long time viewer. The script I'm working on requires a ls to retrieve the files in the current directory. Then I want the listed files to return as selectable menu items. As I have it now the user must manually type out the name of the file to process. I want the user to be able to just push the number associated with that file. Here is what I have so far.. typeset THIS_FILE=StartofFilename_2008-12-29.csv echo echo "${THIS_FILE}, Is this the correct file to process y/n)?" read YN # case $YN in [yY]*) echo Processing... ;; [nN]*) echo echo echo "Please select a file to process, possible files include:" echo ls -al *.csv | grep ^- | nawk '{print $NF}' echo read THIS_FILE?"Which file would you like to process? " wait if [[ $THIS_FILE != 'StartofFilename_'*'.csv' ]]; then echo echo "$THIS_FILE is an invalid filename, exiting..." echo exit fi echo echo "Processing $THIS_FILE..." echo ;; esac

Found the following code on another site, trying to adapt it to my needs but when it returns the menu options it misses the first line. Hmm... #!/bin/ksh # select input file ls -al *.csv | grep ^- | nawk '{print $NF}' >> temp file_name=temp cat temp # define array set -A line_array # populate the array i=1 while read file_line do line_array[i]=${file_line} let i=${i}+1 done < ${file_name} #Display selection options i=1 x=10 var_select () { while [ ${i} -le ${x} ] && [ ${i} -lt ${#line_array[*]} ] do echo echo $i ${line_array[i]} let i=$i+1 done #Select an option echo echo "Select an option number or press enter: \c" read num disp_select } disp_select () { if [ ${num} -le ${i} ] then echo "You have selected: ${line_array[num]}" else x=${x}+10 var_select fi } var_select exit 0 # end

I'll just go ahead and answer my own question.. I forgot to set line_array=1 so it was skipping that line.. cheers.. # populate the array i=1 line_array=1 while read file_line

Why are you initializing a shell array? I must disagree with you as the main problem is that you aren't looking at the last element in the array. I changed this line: while [ ${i} -le ${x} ] && [ ${i} -lt ${#line_array[*]} ] to: while [ ${i} -le ${x} ] && [ ${i} -le ${#line_array[*]} ] I have two other issues. I'll explain then and post my code at the bottom of this reply: There's no reason to append since this is one command: ls -al *.csv | grep ^- | nawk '{print $NF}' > temp Also, I'm running Solaris 9, and the while loop wouldn't work all on one line: while read file_line do line_array[i]=${file_line} let i=${i}+1 done < ${file_name} Here is my copy of your script: #!/bin/ksh #rm -f temp # select input file ls -al *.csv | grep ^- | nawk '{print $NF}' > temp file_name=temp cat temp # define array set -A line_array # populate the array i=1 while read file_line do line_array[i]=${file_line} let i=${i}+1 done < ${file_name} #Display selection options i=1 x=10 var_select () { #while [ ${i} -le ${x} ] && [ ${i} -lt ${#line_array[*]} ] while [ ${i} -le ${x} ] && [ ${i} -le ${#line_array[*]} ] do #echo echo $i ${line_array[i]} let i=$i+1 done #Select an option echo echo "Select an option number or press enter: \c" read num disp_select } disp_select () { if [ ${num} -le ${i} ] then echo "You have selected: ${line_array[num]}" else x=${x}+10 var_select fi } var_select exit 0 # end

OH, I see now. Still new to shell scripting but that makes more sense.. .']

The select command works well for menus. #!/bin/ksh print "\nPlease select a file to process, possible files include:" PS3="Which file would you like to process? " select RESPONSE in $(ls -al *.csv | grep ^- | nawk '{print $NF}') Exit; do CHECK=$(print "$REPLY $RESPONSE" | grep -ic "exit") [[ $CHECK == 1 ]] && exit case $RESPONSE in "") print "\tInvalid selection ($REPLY), select option by number.\n" ;; ${RESPONSE}) break ;; esac done print "You have selected: $RESPONSE"

pklinger: Your code is much cleaner than what I was using. It work but when I enter a number then random characters after it the menu continues. Looks like its only concerned with the first number, but thats ok. ex: Please select a file to process, possible files include: 1) _2008-12-19.csv 2) _2008-12-22.csv 3) _2008-12-30.csv 4) Exit Which file would you like to process? df3 Invalid selection (df3), select option by number. Which file would you like to process? 3dff Processing: _2008-12-30.csv