Bash: What does “masking return values” mean?












5















shellcheck generated the following warning



SC2155: Declare and assign separately to avoid masking return
values


For this line of code



local key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


What does "masking return values" mean, and how does it pertain to the aforementioned warning?










share|improve this question









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    5















    shellcheck generated the following warning



    SC2155: Declare and assign separately to avoid masking return
    values


    For this line of code



    local key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


    What does "masking return values" mean, and how does it pertain to the aforementioned warning?










    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    Inquisitor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      5












      5








      5








      shellcheck generated the following warning



      SC2155: Declare and assign separately to avoid masking return
      values


      For this line of code



      local key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


      What does "masking return values" mean, and how does it pertain to the aforementioned warning?










      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Inquisitor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      shellcheck generated the following warning



      SC2155: Declare and assign separately to avoid masking return
      values


      For this line of code



      local key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


      What does "masking return values" mean, and how does it pertain to the aforementioned warning?







      bash shell-script shellcheck






      share|improve this question









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      Inquisitor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Inquisitor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 6 hours ago







      Inquisitor













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      asked 7 hours ago









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          1 Answer
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          active

          oldest

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          6














          When you declare a variable as either local or exported that in itself is a command that will return success or not.



          $ var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          1
          $ export var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          0


          So if you wanted to act on the return value of your command (echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }'), you would be unable to since it's going to exit with 0 as long as the local declaration succeeds (which is almost always will).



          In order to avoid this it suggests declaring separately and then assigning:



          local key_value
          key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


          This is a shellcheck rule I frequently ignore and IMO is safe to ignore as long as you know you aren't trying to act on the return value of that variable declaration.



          You can ignore it by adding the following to the top of your script (Below the hashbang of course):



          # shellcheck disable=SC2155





          share|improve this answer
























          • Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

            – Charles Duffy
            1 hour ago













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          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          6














          When you declare a variable as either local or exported that in itself is a command that will return success or not.



          $ var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          1
          $ export var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          0


          So if you wanted to act on the return value of your command (echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }'), you would be unable to since it's going to exit with 0 as long as the local declaration succeeds (which is almost always will).



          In order to avoid this it suggests declaring separately and then assigning:



          local key_value
          key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


          This is a shellcheck rule I frequently ignore and IMO is safe to ignore as long as you know you aren't trying to act on the return value of that variable declaration.



          You can ignore it by adding the following to the top of your script (Below the hashbang of course):



          # shellcheck disable=SC2155





          share|improve this answer
























          • Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

            – Charles Duffy
            1 hour ago


















          6














          When you declare a variable as either local or exported that in itself is a command that will return success or not.



          $ var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          1
          $ export var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          0


          So if you wanted to act on the return value of your command (echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }'), you would be unable to since it's going to exit with 0 as long as the local declaration succeeds (which is almost always will).



          In order to avoid this it suggests declaring separately and then assigning:



          local key_value
          key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


          This is a shellcheck rule I frequently ignore and IMO is safe to ignore as long as you know you aren't trying to act on the return value of that variable declaration.



          You can ignore it by adding the following to the top of your script (Below the hashbang of course):



          # shellcheck disable=SC2155





          share|improve this answer
























          • Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

            – Charles Duffy
            1 hour ago
















          6












          6








          6







          When you declare a variable as either local or exported that in itself is a command that will return success or not.



          $ var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          1
          $ export var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          0


          So if you wanted to act on the return value of your command (echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }'), you would be unable to since it's going to exit with 0 as long as the local declaration succeeds (which is almost always will).



          In order to avoid this it suggests declaring separately and then assigning:



          local key_value
          key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


          This is a shellcheck rule I frequently ignore and IMO is safe to ignore as long as you know you aren't trying to act on the return value of that variable declaration.



          You can ignore it by adding the following to the top of your script (Below the hashbang of course):



          # shellcheck disable=SC2155





          share|improve this answer













          When you declare a variable as either local or exported that in itself is a command that will return success or not.



          $ var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          1
          $ export var=$(false)
          $ echo $?
          0


          So if you wanted to act on the return value of your command (echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }'), you would be unable to since it's going to exit with 0 as long as the local declaration succeeds (which is almost always will).



          In order to avoid this it suggests declaring separately and then assigning:



          local key_value
          key_value=$(echo "$current_line" | mawk '/.+=.+/ {print $1 }')


          This is a shellcheck rule I frequently ignore and IMO is safe to ignore as long as you know you aren't trying to act on the return value of that variable declaration.



          You can ignore it by adding the following to the top of your script (Below the hashbang of course):



          # shellcheck disable=SC2155






          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 7 hours ago









          Jesse_bJesse_b

          13.4k23370




          13.4k23370













          • Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

            – Charles Duffy
            1 hour ago





















          • Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

            – Charles Duffy
            1 hour ago



















          Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

          – Charles Duffy
          1 hour ago







          Folks determining whether their code is "trying to act on the return value" should keep in mind that having set -e or an ERR trap fire is also an action (though I don't recommend their use regardless).

          – Charles Duffy
          1 hour ago












          Inquisitor is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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