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linuxbashposixshuser-input

How to 'read -s' in shell?

I know that user input can be read silently using bash with read -s someVar and I was wondering if there is a /bin/sh equivalent that allows user input without displaying it on the command line?

Note: I am just curious if /bin/sh read supports this feature somehow.

Solution

  • Use the stty command to turn off echoing of typed characters.

    get_entry () {
  printf "Choose: "
  stty -echo
  IFS= read -r choice
  stty echo
  printf '\n'
}

get_entry

printf "You chose %s\n" "$choice"