select

select x [in list ]
do
    commands
done

Korn shell only. Display a list of menu items on standard error, numbered in the order they are specified in list . If no in list is given, items are taken from the command line (via "$@" ). Following the menu is a prompt string (set by PS3). At the PS3 prompt, users select a menu item by typing its line number, or they redisplay the menu by pressing the Return key. (User input is stored in the shell variable REPLY.) If a valid line number is typed, commands are executed. Typing EOF terminates the loop.

Example

PS3="Select the item number: "
select event in Format Page View Exit
do
   case "$event" in
     Format) nroff $file | lp;;
     Page)   pr $file | lp;;
     View)   more $file;;
     Exit)   exit 0;;
     *   )   echo "Invalid selection";;
   esac
done

The output of this script looks like this:

1. Format
2. Page
3. View
4. Exit
Select the item number: