unset myVariable i;
while [ -z "$i" ]; do
read myVariable;
echo "myVariable : '$myVariable'";
i=foo; done; i=foo;
done;
echo "myVariable : '$myVariable'"
(the unset is there to allow replaying the command)
press any key + ENTER, you'll get :
myVariable : '[what you typed]'
myVariable : '[what you typed]'
The value of myVariable exists outside of the while loop.
Now try :
tmpFile=$(mktemp);
echo -e 'foo\nbar\nbaz' >> "$tmpFile"; "$tmpFile"
while read myVariable; do
otherVariable=whatever;
echo "myVariable : '$myVariable', otherVariable : '$otherVariable'";
done < "$tmpFile";
echo "myVariable : '$myVariable', otherVariable : '$otherVariable'";
rm "$tmpFile"
you'll get :
myVariable : 'foo', otherVariable : 'whatever'
myVariable : 'bar', otherVariable : 'whatever'
myVariable : 'baz', otherVariable : 'whatever'
myVariable : '', otherVariable : 'whatever'
The value of myVariable is lost when leaving the loop.
Why is there a different behaviour ? Is there a scope trick I'm not aware of ?
NB : running GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
