Learning the Korn Shell, 2nd Edition

Appendix B. Reference Information

This appendix contains reference lists for invocation options, built-in commands and keywords, predefined aliases, built-in shell variables, test operators, shell options, typeset options, arithmetic, emacs-mode commands, and vi-mode control commands. Furthermore, it describes how to use the full facilities of the built-in getopts command.

Invocation Options

Here is a list of the options you can use when invoking the Korn shell. In addition to these, any set option can be used on the command line; see the table on options later in this appendix. Login shells are usually invoked with the options -i (interactive), -s (read from standard input), and -m (enable job control).

Option	Meaning
-c string	Execute string, then exit.
-D	Print all $"..." strings in the script. This is for use in creating a database of locale-specific translations of strings in a script.
-i	Interactive shell. Ignore signals TERM, INTR, and QUIT.
-r	Restricted shell. See Chapter 10.
-R filename	Create a cross-reference database for variable and command definitions in filename. May not be compiled in.
-s	Read commands from the standard input. If an argument is given, this flag takes precedence (i.e., the argument won’t be treated as a script name and standard input will be read).

Built-in Commands and Keywords

Here is a summary of all built-in commands and keywords.

Name	Command/keyword	Chapter	Summary
!	Keyword	5	Invert the true/false result of the following pipeline. ...