Question

i have unix shell script which is need to be run like below

test_sh XYZ=KLMN

the content of the script is

#!/bin/ksh

echo $XYZ

for using the value of XYZ i have do set -k before i run the script.

is there a way where i can do this without doint set -k before running the script. or is there something that i can do in the script where i can use value of the parameter given while running the script in the below way

test_sh XYZ=KLMN

i am using ksh.
Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

It looks like you are trying to use the environment variable “INSTANCE” in your script.

For that, the environment variable must be set in advance of executing your script. Using the “set” command sets exportable environment variables. Incidentally, my version of ksh dates from 1993 and the “-k” option was obsolete back then.

To set an environment variable so that it is exported into spawned shells, simply use the “export” command like so:

export INSTANCE='whatever you want to put here'

If you want to use a positional parameter for your script — that is have the “KLMN” value accessed within your script, and assuming it is the first parameter, then you do the following in your script:

#!/bin/ksh

echo $1

You can also assign the positional parameter to a local variable for later use in your script like so:

#!/bin/ksh

param_one=$1
echo $param_one

You can call this with:

test_sh KLMN

Note that the spacing in the assignment is important — do not use spaces.