Echoing what command is running in shell script

Question

Is it possible to echo out what command is being run in a shell script?

(Without put the -X in the sheabang to turn on the debuggin mode. This is not part of a debugging process)

thanks

[Edit: more details]

Suppose I have a script like this:

#! /bin/sh

clear
cd ~/home/

How do I have the two commands that are executed (cd and clear) printed to the console?

@larsmans: I would've marked your comment as the answer :), but didn't know how to. — One Two Three
– One Two Three, Commented May 24, 2012 at 18:26

Fred Foo · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-24 19:27:22Z

1

On my version of /bin/sh (the Debian Almquist Shell, dash), there's no other way than -x to get this behavior. Echoing commands is also the only effect of -x, so I see no reason not to use it.

answered May 24, 2012 at 19:27

Fred Foo

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Abram · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-23 21:09:25Z

0

echo $0

That will echo the first word in the command line. If you specified a relative path, such as "./bin/test", that will show the whole path, so you may want:

echo $(basename $0)

That will just echo "test", instead of "./bin/test".

It's very common for scripts to use $0 in error messages, rather than hard coding the name, because the program could be renamed or called from a symlink.

answered May 23, 2012 at 21:09

Abram

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5 Comments

shellter Over a year ago

All good info. But I think the O.P. is looking to echo that a cmd is running further down in the script. I.E. #!/bin/bash;cmd1; echo cmd2; cmd2; cmd3. Good luck to all.

One Two Three Over a year ago

Uhm, I didn't mean to print out the name of the script ($0).

Abram Over a year ago

"echo $0" does exactly what you asked: echoes the command being run. What do you want? To echo the command that's going to be run? Echo the command being run in another process?

One Two Three Over a year ago

I don't think you understand what I asked for. (I've editted the question with more details)

Abram Over a year ago

I guess I just need more context of why you'd want to do this outside of a debugging context. You could create a list of commands and arguments and iterate over it...

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