command line arguments within a bash scripts Example of a simple script: #!/bin/bash #apply a function with a parameter function apply { request=$1; echo "$request" } #the first argument case $1 in 1) #1) first code apply "first" ;; 2) #2) second code apply "second" ;; 3) #3) third code apply "third" ;; *) echo "bad argument" ;; esac From HowTo Wiki, a Wikia wiki.