Special Shell Variables — # and *
Special Shell Variables — # and *
The special shell variables # and * will provide you with a lot of flexibility when dealing with a variable argument list. You will always know how many arguments have been entered through $#, and you can always access the entire argument list through $*, regardless of the number of arguments. Notice that the command ($0) is never included in the argument list variable $*.
# The number of command line arguments
* The entire argument string
Example of a shell script for Special Shell Variables.
#!/usr/bin/sh
echo " There are $# command line arguments "
echo " They are $* "
echo " The first command line argument is $1 "
$ chmod + x color4
$ color4 red green yellow blue
echo " There are 4 command line arguments "
echo " They are red green yellow blue "
echo " The first command line argument is red "
$