Each bash shell function has the following set of shell variables:
[a] All function parameters or arguments can be accessed via $1, $2, $3,..., $N.
[b] $* or [email protected] holds all parameters or arguments passed to the function.
[c] $# holds the number of positional parameters passed to the function.
[d] An array variable called FUNCNAME ontains the names of all shell functions currently in the execution call stack.
Example
Create a shell script as follows:
#!/bin/bash # Purpose: Demo bash function # Author: nixCraft # ----------------------------- ## Define a function called foo() foo(){ echo "Function name: ${FUNCNAME}" echo "The number of positional parameter : $#" echo "All parameters or arguments passed to the function: '[email protected]'" echo } ## Call or invoke the function ## ## Pass the parameters or arguments ## foo nixCraft foo 1 2 3 4 5 foo "this" "is" "a" "test" |
Run it as follows:
$ chmod +x script.name.here
$ ./script.name.here
Sample outputs:
See also
- Chapter 9: Functions from the Linux shell scripting wiki.
- man page – bash
1 comment
Try using the special variable ${#}.
function foo {
echo “N. of Args: ${#}”
}
$ foo a b c
3