How to Make Menus in Bash with ‘select’

The aim of this page📝 is to explain the usage of the PS3 variable in conjunction with the select construct in bash scripting based on the particular example of creating a menu to choose a favorite vegetable. My notes for Advanced Bash Scripting

Pavol Kutaj

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Apr 26, 2024

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• The code below makes a nice menu. Python does not have this OOTB, see How to Create a Simple Menu Maker for Python Scripts

echo "Example 11-30. Creating menus using select"
PS3="Choose your favorite vegetable: "
echo 
select vegetable in "beans" "carrots" "potatoes" "onions" "rutabagas"; do
  echo
  echo "Your favorite veggie is ${vegetable}"
  echo "Yuck!"
  echo
  break
done

• The PS3 variable is set to customize the prompt displayed before the list of choices in a select construct.
• When the select statement is executed, it uses the value of PS3 as the prompt for user input.
• The select construct simplifies creating menus by handling menu display, user input, and option selection.
• PS3 is designed to be used exclusively with select and is not used for general user input prompts.
• Using read for menu-like functionality would require more manual handling of input validation and display.
• select automates menu creation tasks, making it easier to implement a menu-driven interface.
• select validates user input against the list of options and assigns the selected option to a variable.
• PS3 is not used outside of a select construct and is tailored for menu prompts.
• select provides a concise and convenient way to create menus in bash scripts with predefined options.