Simple Commands

Just like any other shell scripting language. Bunster allows you can run external progams.

The format is as follows:

command-name [arguments...]

The command-name can be a full path to a program. or just the name of the binary. In that case, the binary must be accessible in $PATH.

Separator

You can separate the command list by a new line. a semicolon ;, or ampersand &.

command
command2; command3
command4 & command5

We will talk more about the ampersand & in Asynchronous commands.

Quotes

Quotes in bunster work the exact same as in bash.

Double Quotes

double quotes are used to preserve the literal meaning of tokens except the dollar sign $.

"command name" "foo bar"

This will run the comand command name and pass the argument foo bar.

Dollar sign

Dollar sign is a special token that is used for substitution. It does not lose it's meaning in double quotes:

echo "$HOME"

This will run echo. and passes an argument which is the value of the HOME variable. (we will learn more about variables later).

Escaping quotes

You can escape double quotes within double quotes:

echo "\"foobar\""

This will run the command echo with the argument "foobar".

Single Quotes

Single quotes are also used to preserve the literal meaning of tokens. However, unlike double quotes, all tokens within single quotes loose their special meaning. Including the $ dollar sign. And you cannot use escaping within single quotes

echo '$VAR\'

Runs the command echo with the argument $VAR\

Escaping

Escaping is the same as in bash. you use the backslash \ to preserve the literal meaning of the next token. The backslash it self is removed and the escaped token is treated literally.

Newline \n is a special case. when you scape a newline. the newline is removed as well:

command\ name \
    argument argument2

This will run the command command name. and pass the argument and argument2 arguments.

Comments

Comments in bunster are (as you may guess) the exact as in any other shell. Lines starting with # are ignored. Parts of lines that start with # are treated as comments as well and are ignored.

# full line comment
command # inline comment

Examples

echo foo bar

echo "Hello World"

echo 'Hello World'

echo; echo

echo \
    foo bar