Shell Script Newbie: "Command not found"

Question

I've been learning shell scripting since yesterday. I want to make a script that returns the minimum number from all the numbers in a text file. This is what I have so far:

#!/bin/bash
file="example.txt"
min=cat $file|head -1
for i in $(cat $file); do
  if [[ $min -gt $i ]]; then
    min=$i
  fi
done
echo $min

I keep getting an error in line 3 that says "example.txt: command not found".

This should get you started: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9449778/what-is-the-benefit-of-using-instead-of-backticks-in-shell-scripts — fvu, Oct 05 '17 at 06:39
Chuckling... Stick with it, you will make friends with your shell soon enough. You will want to bookmark [**Bash Guide**](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashGuide), [**Bash FAQ**](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ) and [**Bash Pitfalls**](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashPitfalls). A wealth of good information can be found at each. — David C. Rankin, Oct 05 '17 at 06:47

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 05 '17 at 06:45

0

You need to use a command substitution:

min=$(cat $file|head -1)

Besides that, note that the cat command is useless here since head accepts a filename. It should be:

min=$(head -1 "$file")

edited Oct 05 '17 at 06:45

hek2mgl

152,036
28
249
266

answered Oct 05 '17 at 06:39

Juan Diego Godoy Robles

14,447
2
38
52

Thank you so much! – Zantorym Oct 05 '17 at 06:40

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 05 '17 at 06:40

0

add it inside backticks.

 min=`cat $file|head -1`

answered Oct 05 '17 at 06:40

abhishek phukan

751
1
5
16

While correct, you should visit the link in the first comment to the original question. – David C. Rankin Oct 05 '17 at 06:49

Shell Script Newbie: "Command not found"

2 Answers2