Calling a shell function (in an external file) with arguments from a makefile

Question

I have a file sedstr.sh containing a function sedstr:

#!/bin/bash
function sedstr {
# From stackoverflow.com/a/29626460/633251 (Thanks Ed!)
    old="$1"
    new="$2"
    file="${3:--}"
    escOld=$(sed 's/[^^]/[&]/g; s/\^/\\^/g' <<< "$old")
    escNew=$(sed 's/[&/\]/\\&/g' <<< "$new")
    sed -i.tmp "s/\<$escOld\>/$escNew/g" "$file" # added -i.tmp
    echo "sedstr done"
}

I have an external file "test" to be edited in place with these contents:

My last name is Han.son and I need help.
If the makefile works, I'll have a new last name.

I want to call the sedstr function with its arguments from a makefile. Nothing should be returned, but the external file should be edited. Here is a small makefile that doesn't work:

all: doEdit

doEdit:
  $(shell ./sedstr.sh) # I was hoping this would bring the function into the scope, but nay
  $(shell sedstr 'Han.son', 'Dufus', test)

How can I call this function using variables in the makefile? The error is:

make: sedstr: Command not found
make: Nothing to be done for `all'.

@EtanReisner Thank you. The extra $(shell ... ) was left over from when the line was not in a target. So I removed that and the extra commas (silly), now I have ./sedstr.sh; sedstr 'Hans.son' 'Dufus' test and it gives the following error: MWE2:7: *** missing separator. Stop. With the $(shell ... ) I get the error I originally reported. — Bryan Hanson
– Bryan Hanson, Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 2:08
@MikkelChristiansen Having the function externally was suggested in a another question as a more sensible approach. — Bryan Hanson
– Bryan Hanson, Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 2:09

Bryan Hanson · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-13 14:40:32Z

4

Each line in a make recipe is executed in its own shell.

Similarly, so is each call to $(shell).

They don't share state.

To do what you want ould would need a recipe line of

$(shell . ./sedstr.sh; sedstr 'Han.son' 'Dufus' test)

That being said there's no reason to use $(shell) here at all as you are already in a shell context and as you can just as easily (and more correctly) use a recipe line of

. ./sedstr.sh; sedstr 'Hans.son' 'Dufus' test

And yes, the commas in the original are just incorrect.

edited Jul 13, 2015 at 14:40

Bryan Hanson

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answered Jul 13, 2015 at 2:00

Etan Reisner

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8 Comments

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

Thanks for the advice on the 'big picture'. If I use the direct approach, it complains /bin/sh: sedstr: command not found which is not the shell I thought I was using...

Etan Reisner Over a year ago

make uses /bin/sh by default but that's not really relevant here. The second attempt here had a typo, you need to source the script and not run it as a script on its own.

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

Got it, error eliminated, but it doesn't carry out the editing. I'm doubting the function now, see my comments above under the original question. Thanks for you help.

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

I got it working now. No problem with the sedstr function. Seemed to be a problem with crossing my test functions and test files, and also, unsaved edits were not being seen in testing. Thanks for your help.

Etan Reisner Over a year ago

No, ./sedstr.sh runs the script as a script. So the function only exists in the shell context of the script that ends immediately when the file ends. . loads the script in the current shell context. Look for source in the bash man page.

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Mikkel Christiansen · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-13 02:00:54Z

1

You can call the function from inside sedstr.sh. At the end

sedstr "$1" "$2" "$3"

EDIT Or see other answer

answered Jul 13, 2015 at 2:00

Mikkel Christiansen

1376 bronze badges

6 Comments

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

I assume I put that after the function definition. What do I put in the makefile?

Mikkel Christiansen Over a year ago

./sedstr.sh 'Hans.son' 'Dufus' test

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

OK, I did it as you said, and I get this result: ./sedstr.sh 'Hans.son' 'Dufus' test; sedstr done which seems reasonable. A test.tmp file is created as expected, but the file contents are not edited. So... maybe the function isn't working?

Mikkel Christiansen Over a year ago

I notised Han.son in test and Hans.son as argument?

Bryan Hanson Over a year ago

Ugh... too tired. Thanks. But fixing that didn't lead to an edited file. I'm checking to make sure I've got it all correct.

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