Example of using the case statement

To specify an action when a word matches the pattern:

   cat diary
   #!/bin/sh
   today=`date +%m/%d`  (presents the date in the format 01/31)
   case $today  in
   07/18)       echo    "Aonoch Mhor"
   ;;
   07/21)       echo    "Ben Wyvis"
   ;;
   08/02)       echo    "Buicheille Etive Mhor"
   ;;
   08/03)       echo    "Slioch"
   ;;
   *)           echo    "Wet..low level today"
   esac
   date +%m/%d
   07/18
   diary
   Aonoch Mhor 

The value for the word $today is generated by the date command. This is then compared with various patterns so that the appropriate commands are executed.

Note the use of the pattern *, this can be used to specify default patterns as the * character is the shell wildcard character.