while browsing through hidden files of my home directory , I have found .bash_logout. I came through this content in the file
if [ "$SHLVL" = 1 ]; then
[ -x /usr/bin/clear_console ] && /usr/bin/clear_console -q
fi
I am not much good with BASH & I am requesting that , could somebody explain that for me. whats the deal with SHLVL ?
Thank you.
That script - .bash_logout - is executed by bash when login shell exits, and that code from your question intends to clear the screen to increase privacy when leaving the console.
SHLVL is a environment variable which came from "SHell LeVeL" and lets you track how many subshells deep your current shell is. In your top-level shell, the value of $SHLVL is 1. In the first subshell, it's 2; in a sub-subshell, it's 3; and so on. So SHLVL indicates how many shells deep the user is. If the level is 2, you must type exit, then logout to exit.
So, if "$SHLVL" = 1 i.e. if you are in the top-level shell, then...
[ -x /usr/bin/clear_console ] is another test and means something like: test if the file /usr/bin/clear_console exists and is executable.
Because of && this command: /usr/bin/clear_console -q is executed only if [ -x /usr/bin/clear_console ] succeeds with success.
And finally: what does /usr/bin/clear_console mean? From man clear_console:
clear_console clears your console if this is possible. It looks in the environment for the terminal type and then in the terminfo database to figure out how to clear the screen. To clear the buffer, it then changes the foreground virtual terminal to another terminal and then back to the original terminal.
clear_console is very approached to clear command which can be used in any terminal/console.
If you just want to know why scroll down.
From man bash
SHLVL Incremented by one each time an instance of bash is started.
But, that's not 100% clear... So let's see:
# echo $SHLVL
1
# ps faux
...
user 4440 0.0 0.9 599220 18796 ? Sl 08:35 0:00 gnome-terminal
user 4447 0.0 0.2 31912 5304 pts/2 Ss+ 08:35 0:00 \_ bash
...
#
# screen
# echo $SHLVL
2
# ps faux
...
user 4440 0.0 0.9 599220 18796 ? Sl 08:35 0:00 gnome-terminal
user 4447 0.0 0.2 31920 5324 pts/2 Ss 08:35 0:00 \_ bash
user 4772 0.0 0.0 34656 1224 pts/2 S+ 08:43 0:00 \_ screen
user 4773 0.0 0.0 34816 1396 ? Ss 08:43 0:00 \_ SCREEN
user 4774 0.3 0.2 31952 5188 pts/3 Ss+ 08:43 0:00 \_ /bin/bash
...
#
# bash
# echo $SHLVL
3
# ps faux
user 4440 0.0 0.9 599220 18796 ? Sl 08:35 0:00 gnome-terminal
user 4447 0.0 0.2 31920 5324 pts/2 Ss 08:35 0:00 \_ bash
user 4772 0.0 0.0 34656 1224 pts/2 S+ 08:43 0:00 \_ screen
user 4773 0.0 0.0 34816 1396 ? Ss 08:43 0:00 \_ SCREEN
user 4774 0.1 0.2 31952 5348 pts/3 Ss 08:43 0:00 \_ /bin/bash
user 4832 1.3 0.2 31952 5184 pts/3 S+ 08:45 0:00 \_ bash
So the variable increments every time when a bash is nested in another bash. And your code part effects that when the last bash is exiting the screen will be cleared. But it's not been executed in graphical terminal sessions, just in virtual terminals (like when you hit ctrl+alt+f1) and work there.
The reason why is that the next person that works on that virtual terminal cannot see the output of the last screen you had. Because maybe there are critical information on the screen.
From a quick google it seems the SHLVL equates to "SHell LeVeL" and reflects how deep you are with nested shells. I.e. one shell, opens another, which opens another etc..
This value is incremented for each sub-shell opened, so the code is checking to see if this is the top level of the nest - i.e. level 1.
if so, it will then (if /usr/bin/clear_console exists and is executable) run the code to clear the screen.
Taken from here : http://linux.about.com/cs/linux101/g/shlvl.htm
