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debug_echo

Function description

The debug_echo function may be used to selectively send debugging messages to stderr and / or the system event log.

Function parameters

$1 - The message to be output.

Global variables

$DEBUG - If this global variable is set then output will be sent to stderr.

$LOGGING - If this global variable is set then output will be sent to the system event log.

Example use

Listing 1
  1. #! /bin/bash
  2.  
  3. # We rely on some functions from hacking-bash.sh
  4. [[ -r ${HACKING_BASH_LIB_PATH:=/usr/lib/hacking-bash.sh} ]] && \
  5.     source ${HACKING_BASH_LIB_PATH} || \
  6.     { echo "Unable to find ${HACKING_BASH_LIB_PATH}"; exit 1; }
  7.  
  8. # Use the debug_echo function
  9. debug_echo "This is a test message"
Example code demonstrating the debug_echo function
max@lisa ~ $ ./debug_echo.sh
max@lisa ~ $ DEBUG="true" ./debug_echo.sh
debug: This is a test message 
max@lisa ~ $ LOGGING="true" ./debug_echo.sh
max@lisa ~ $ tail /var/log/messages
Nov 14 17:54:11 lisa max: debug: This is a test message 
max@lisa ~ $ DEBUG="true" LOGGING="true" ./debug_echo.sh
debug: This is a test message 
max@lisa ~ $ tail /var/log/messages
Nov 14 17:54:33 lisa max: debug: This is a test message