In this chapter, you will

• Gain an understanding of text processing utilities

• Learn about sed and awk

• Learn how to write shell scripts

A key feature of Solaris 9 shells is the ability to write complex scripts that perform repetitive actions and can process various kinds of decision logic. There are many more commands available for the Bourne again shell than for MS-DOS batch files, which makes them very powerful. However, script files are more dependent on understanding file permissions than just using the shell to enter commands, which makes them more complex. In this chapter, we review how to create executable scripts that can be used with the Bourne again shell. In addition, we examine how to schedule shell scripts to run at regular intervals using the cron and at facilities. Finally, we focus on the advanced text processing features of the Solaris shell and how these can be used when developing scripts.