parsing_arguments_in_bash_script [pswiki]

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====== Parsing arguments in bash script ======
you can access positional arguments through the ''$1'' ''$2'' etc. varaibles and ''$#'' contains the number of positional arguments, but what if you want to parse more advanced, non positional arguments? this simple snippet that i stole from [[http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_wss0120.php|here]] provides an elegant and quick solution: 
<code bash>
interactive=
filename=~/sysinfo_page.html

while [ "$1" != "" ]; do
    case $1 in
        -f | --file )           shift
                                filename=$1
                                ;;
        -i | --interactive )    interactive=1
                                ;;
        -h | --help )           usage
                                exit
                                ;;
        * )                     usage
                                exit 1
    esac
    shift
done
</code>