How do I prompt for Yes/No/Cancel input in a Linux shell script?

Question

I want to pause input in a shell script, and prompt the user for choices.
The standard Yes, No, or Cancel type question.
How d

Answer 1

I noticed that no one posted an answer showing multi-line echo menu for such simple user input so here is my go at it:

#!/bin/bash

function ask_user() {    

echo -e "
#~~~~~~~~~~~~#
| 1.) Yes    |
| 2.) No     |
| 3.) Quit   |
#~~~~~~~~~~~~#\n"

read -e -p "Select 1: " choice

if [ "$choice" == "1" ]; then

    do_something

elif [ "$choice" == "2" ]; then

    do_something_else

elif [ "$choice" == "3" ]; then

    clear && exit 0

else

    echo "Please select 1, 2, or 3." && sleep 3
    clear && ask_user

fi
}

ask_user

This method was posted in the hopes that someone may find it useful and time-saving.

Answer 2

I suggest you use dialog...

Linux Apprentice: Improve Bash Shell Scripts Using Dialog

The dialog command enables the use of window boxes in shell scripts to make their use more interactive.

it's simple and easy to use, there's also a gnome version called gdialog that takes the exact same parameters, but shows it GUI style on X.

Answer 3

Bash has select for this purpose.

select result in Yes No Cancel
do
    echo $result
done

Answer 4

You want:

• Bash builtin commands (i.e. portable)
• Check TTY
• Default answer
• Timeout
• Colored question

Snippet

do_xxxx=y                      # In batch mode => Default is Yes
[[ -t 0 ]] &&                  # If TTY => Prompt the question
read -n 1 -p $'\e[1;32m
Do xxxx? (Y/n)\e[0m ' do_xxxx  # Store the answer in $do_xxxx
if [[ $do_xxxx =~ ^(y|Y|)$ ]]  # Do if 'y' or 'Y' or empty
then
    xxxx
fi

Explanations

• [[ -t 0 ]] && read ... => Call command read if TTY
• read -n 1 => Wait for one character
• $'\e[1;32m ... \e[0m ' => Print in green
  (green is fine because readable on both white/black backgrounds)
• [[ $do_xxxx =~ ^(y|Y|)$ ]] => bash regex

Timeout => Default answer is No

do_xxxx=y
[[ -t 0 ]] && {                   # Timeout 5 seconds (read -t 5)
read -t 5 -n 1 -p $'\e[1;32m
Do xxxx? (Y/n)\e[0m ' do_xxxx ||  # read 'fails' on timeout
do_xxxx=n ; }                     # Timeout => answer No
if [[ $do_xxxx =~ ^(y|Y|)$ ]]
then
    xxxx
fi

Answer 5

The simplest and most widely available method to get user input at a shell prompt is the read command. The best way to illustrate its use is a simple demonstration:

while true; do
    read -p "Do you wish to install this program?" yn
    case $yn in
        [Yy]* ) make install; break;;
        [Nn]* ) exit;;
        * ) echo "Please answer yes or no.";;
    esac
done

Another method, pointed out by Steven Huwig, is Bash's select command. Here is the same example using select:

echo "Do you wish to install this program?"
select yn in "Yes" "No"; do
    case $yn in
        Yes ) make install; break;;
        No ) exit;;
    esac
done

With select you don't need to sanitize the input – it displays the available choices, and you type a number corresponding to your choice. It also loops automatically, so there's no need for a while true loop to retry if they give invalid input.

Also, Léa Gris demonstrated a way to make the request language agnostic in her answer. Adapting my first example to better serve multiple languages might look like this:

set -- $(locale LC_MESSAGES)
yesptrn="$1"; noptrn="$2"; yesword="$3"; noword="$4"

while true; do
    read -p "Install (${yesword} / ${noword})? " yn
    case $yn in
        ${yesptrn##^} ) make install; break;;
        ${noptrn##^} ) exit;;
        * ) echo "Answer ${yesword} / ${noword}.";;
    esac
done

Obviously other communication strings remain untranslated here (Install, Answer) which would need to be addressed in a more fully completed translation, but even a partial translation would be helpful in many cases.

Finally, please check out the excellent answer by F. Hauri.

Answer 6

This is what I usually need in a script/function:

• default answer is Yes, if you hit ENTER
• accept also z (in case you mix up you are on QWERTZ Layout)
• accept other lanyuages ("ja", "Oui", ...)
• handle the right exit in case you are inside a function

while true; do
    read -p "Continue [Y/n]? " -n 1 -r -e yn
    case "${yn:-Y}" in
        [YyZzOoJj]* ) echo; break ;;
        [Nn]* ) [[ "$0" = "$BASH_SOURCE" ]] && exit 1 || return 1 ;; # handle exits from shell or function but don't exit interactive shell
        * ) echo "Please answer yes or no.";;
    esac
done
echo "and off we go!"