Use "read" in Bash script with a standard answer
bash version 4+
You would write this:
read -p "enter a value: " -i default -e answer
echo "you answered: $answer"
-
-i defaultspecifies the default answer. -
-eenables interactive (editing) mode forread. Without this option the default answer does not work.
bash version < 4 (macos has bash 3.x)
So, can't edit the default value with bash 3.2. You could do this:
default="the default value"
read -p "your answer [default=$default] " answer
: ${answer:=$default}
echo "you answered: $answer"
This uses the default value if the user enters nothing (empty string)