Appending to files (>>) in Bash Scripting - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Appending Text to a File Using Bash

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are keeping a simple log file to track daily tasks. Each day, you want to add a new task to the log without deleting the old ones.

🎯 Goal: You will create a bash script that appends new tasks to an existing log file using the >> operator.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a text file variable with initial content

Create a variable holding the new task text

Append the new task to the file using the >> operator

Display the contents of the file after appending

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Appending to log files is common in system administration and automation to keep track of events or tasks without losing previous data.

💼 Career

Knowing how to append to files is essential for writing scripts that maintain logs, update reports, or add data incrementally in many IT and developer roles.

1

Create the initial log file

Create a file called tasks.log with the initial content "Task1: Buy groceries" using the echo command and the single redirection operator >.

Bash Scripting

# Create the initial tasks.log file with the first task
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo "text" > filename to create a file with text.

2

Create a variable for the new task

Create a variable called new_task and set it to the string "Task2: Call the bank".

Bash Scripting

echo "Task1: Buy groceries" > tasks.log
# Create a variable new_task with the value "Task2: Call the bank"
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use variable_name="value" to create a variable in bash.

3

Append the new task to the log file

Use the echo command with the variable new_task and the append redirection operator >> to add the new task to tasks.log.

Bash Scripting

echo "Task1: Buy groceries" > tasks.log
new_task="Task2: Call the bank"
# Append the new_task to tasks.log
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo "$variable" >> filename to append text stored in a variable to a file.

4

Display the contents of the log file

Use the cat command to display the contents of tasks.log so you can see both tasks listed.

Bash Scripting

echo "Task1: Buy groceries" > tasks.log
new_task="Task2: Call the bank"
echo "$new_task" >> tasks.log
# Display the contents of tasks.log
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use cat filename to show the file content.