How do I return a failure value from a bash function?

Solution 1:

Add

return $?

below the cmake call to exit the function with the same exit code as cmake, and add

return 1

below the echo call to exit with 1, which is non-zero and therefore indicates an error.

You can alternatively (if you call both commands in combination) add the make call to this function:

 cmake [args] && make -j4

Or, to allow e.g. for more fine-grained error handling:

cmake [args]
local _ret=$?
if [ $_ret -ne 0 ] ; then
   echo "cmake returned with exit code $_ret, aborting!" >&2
   return $_ret
fi
make -j4

If you call it as a standalone program, i.e. store the function in a shell script, and invoke e.g. as

/path/to/cmakerel.sh

then you can use exit instead of return to abort the whole program/subshell.