Bash: select the default value from the case when input is entered at the "select" prompt

Question

I ask questions in a bash script as follows:

optionsAudits=("Yep" "Nope")
    echo "Include audits?"
    select opt in "${optionsAudits[@]}"; do
        case $REPLY in
            1) includeAudits=true; break ;;
            2) includeAudits=false; break ;;
            "\n") echo "You pressed enter"; break ;; # <--- doesn't work
            *) echo "What that?"; exit;;
        esac
    done

How to choose the default option when pressing the enter key? The case "\n"does not capture the input key.

Answer 1

In addition to Aserre's helpful answer , which explains the problem with your code and offers an effective workaround, with reference information and a universal, reusable custom selectimplementation that allows empty input :

---

Background Information

: select ( Enter) - .

, select , , .
, - $opt, int this case - select, , .

- 'Yep', 'Nope' - , , .

( , $REPLY , , , , ).

, , , ^C (Ctrl+C), .

---

select,

, select, ( Enter). , , :

# Custom `select` implementation that allows *empty* input.
# Pass the choices as individual arguments.
# Output is the chosen item, or "", if the user just pressed ENTER.
# Example:
#    choice=$(selectWithDefault 'one' 'two' 'three')
selectWithDefault() {

  local item i=0 numItems=$# 

  # Print numbered menu items, based on the arguments passed.
  for item; do         # Short for: for item in "$@"; do
    printf '%s\n' "$((++i))) $item"
  done >&2 # Print to stderr, as `select` does.

  # Prompt the user for the index of the desired item.
  while :; do
    printf %s "${PS3-#? }" >&2 # Print the prompt string to stderr, as `select` does.
    read -r index
    # Make sure that the input is either empty or that a valid index was entered.
    [[ -z $index ]] && break  # empty input
    (( index >= 1 && index <= numItems )) 2>/dev/null || { echo "Invalid selection. Please try again." >&2; continue; }
    break
  done

  # Output the selected item, if any.
  [[ -n $index ]] && printf %s "${@: index:1}"

}

:

# Print the prompt message and call the custom select function.
echo "Include audits (default is 'Nope')?"
optionsAudits=('Yep' 'Nope')
opt=$(selectWithDefault "${optionsAudits[@]}")

# Process the selected item.
case $opt in
  'Yep') includeAudits=true; ;;
  ''|'Nope') includeAudits=false; ;; # $opt is '' if the user just pressed ENTER
esac

---

:

. , select; , , :

optionsAudits=("Yep" "Nope")
echo "Include audits (^C to abort)?"
select opt in "${optionsAudits[@]}"; do
    # $opt being empty signals invalid input.
    [[ -n $opt ]] || { echo "What that? Please try again." >&2; continue; }
    break # a valid choice was made, exit the prompt.
done

case $opt in  # $opt now contains the *text* of the chosen option
  'Yep')
     includeAudits=true
     ;;
  'Nope') # could be just `*` in this case.
     includeAudits=false
     ;;
esac

:

• case select, , .

• case ($opt), ($REPLY), , .

Answer 2

:

echo "Include audits? 1) Yep, 2) Nope"
read ans
case $ans in
    Yep|1  )  echo "yes"; includeAudits=true; v=1 ;;
    Nope|2 )  echo "no"; includeAudits=false; v=2 ;;
    ""     )  echo "default - yes"; includeAudits=true; v=1 ;;
    *      )  echo "Whats that?"; exit ;;
esac

"Yep", "1" "enter", "", "Nope" "2" "" - . v 1 2 , .

Answer 3

, select . read , select, .

select, - :

#!/bin/bash
optionsAudits=("Yep" "Nope")
while : #infinite loop. be sure to break out of it when a valid choice is made
do
    i=1
    echo "Include Audits?"
    #we recreate manually the menu here
    for o in  "${optionsAudits[@]}"; do
        echo "$i) $o"
        let i++
    done

    read reply
    #the user can either type the option number or copy the option text
    case $reply in
        "1"|"${optionsAudits[0]}") includeAudits=true; break;;
        "2"|"${optionsAudits[1]}") includeAudits=false; break;;
        "") echo "empty"; break;;
        *) echo "Invalid choice. Please choose an existing option number.";;
    esac
done
echo "choice : \"$reply\""