Bash null character echo

Hi All, I have a problem with Null values while reading line by line from a text file. I wrote a shell script to read set of file names from a text file line by line, and zipping the each individual file and copying those zip files into some separate directory, and removing the original file Find files which contain a null character.

I'm not sure how to represent the null character in the grep statement. Could anyone help please? Helen :confused: 5 Replies. Sending INtr key for remote terminal.

RedHat Commands. OpenSolaris Commands. Linux Commands. SunOS Commands. FreeBSD Commands. Full Man Repository. Advanced Search. Contact Us. The echo is a simple command to use and very easy to learn. We will catch you up with more shell script-related articles soon. This is incorrect. Have a question or suggestion? Please leave a comment to start the discussion. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated and your email address will NOT be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. In this article, I will show you how to use the echo command in Linux shell scripts. How to Work With echo Command in Linux When learning shell scripting this is the first command you will learn about to print something in your terminal.

NOTE : Always builtin version takes precedence over external command. This command has no effect and does absolutely nothing, hence the null command terminology. No joke. This post covers how the Bash null command works, some pitfalls to avoid, and what are some practical use cases for this noop command.

It is there mostly for historical reason and compatibility with older shells but it can still serve a purpose in Bash today. As defined in the Bash manual the null command : is a command builtin that will do nothing and will always succeed.

The command exit status will always be 0. The POSIX standard mentions that this shell command should only expand command arguments and be used when a command is needed, as in a then condition of an if command, but no actions should be done by the command.

The null command : is very similar to the true command which also always succeeds and returns an exit status 0. The colon command or null command is often compared to the true builtin. While for the most part, you would observe similar behavior, there are some slight differences to be aware of. First, the true command is a regular builtin while the : colon command is a special builtin according to the POSIX specifications.

A special builtin is required to be built into the shell, the regular builtin is not guaranteed to be.