The Shell Script Menu Project is a command-line interface (CLI) structured in a series of directories and subdirectories, each of which contains a suite of shell script tools designed to perform a variety of different tasks.

The main script, main.sh, serves as a gateway to the rest of the scripts in the project. It presents the user with a list of all available directories or tools, excluding specified directories. The user can then input the number corresponding to the tool they wish to use, which will run the corresponding script.

Each tool directory contains another main.sh script, which further categorizes the tools available within its own directory and presents them as options to the user. Each of these tools is a shell script file located in the "lib" subdirectory of the tool directory. When the tool is selected, the corresponding shell script is run.

Follow the steps below to use the tool effectively:

1. Navigate to the root directory containing the main.sh script.
2. Execute the main.sh script using the command ./main.sh.
3. You will be then presented with a menu of available tools. Enter the number associated with your preferred tool.
4. Another menu will appear for sub-tools within the selected tool. Please enter the number of your desired sub-tool.
5. Once chosen, the selected tool will execute. Whenever you want to return to the tools menu, press any key.
6. For convenience, you can add an alias for the script. Go to the menu labelled "Common" and select the "Add Helper Alias" option. After a terminal restart, you can use the command helper to call the script.
7. To run other tools, just follow the same steps. Whenever you are done, you can find "Exit" or "Return" options in all tools. Just enter the number corresponding to these options.

To add your own tools to the project, you can copy the provided Example directory, rename it, and replace or modify the scripts within it.

The directory structure should look like this:

└── YourTool
    ├── lib
    │   └── your_script.sh
    └── main.sh

To start, just copy the Example directory in the root of the project:

cp -r Example YourTool

Replace YourTool with the name of your tool. Inside the lib directory, rename example.sh to your_script.sh or whatever fits the purpose of the script.

Then, open your_script.sh in your preferred text editor and write your own script.

Finally, open main.sh and update any reference to Example or example.sh to match the new name of your tool and script.

This will create a new custom tool in the main script menu.

Please note, the Example directory is excluded from the main script menu by design. Any new directories you add will be automatically included in the menu unless explicitly excluded in main.sh.

Ensure that all the scripts in the lib directory have execute permissions:

chmod +x YourTool/lib/*

Now your custom tool will be available when the shell script menu is run.

You can add this tool to your .bashrc file for easy execution from any terminal location. Here's the step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Open your .bashrc file

Open a terminal and type:

cd
nano ~/.bashrc

This will open your bashrc file in nano text editor.

Step 2: Add an alias

At the bottom of the file, on a new line, add an alias for your script. If your main.sh script is located in /home/username/ShellScriptMenuProject/main.sh, add the following alias:

alias helper='/home/username/ShellScriptMenuProject/main.sh'

You can replace helper with any name you prefer to call your tool from the terminal.

Step 3: Save changes and update Bash

Press Ctrl+X to quit nano, press Y to save the changes and Enter to confirm. Then, to refresh your terminal environment with the updated .bashrc settings, type:

source ~/.bashrc

Your script is now available as a command you can run from any location in your terminal. Just type helper (or whatever alias you set) and your shell script menu will start.

Note: You should ensure that main.sh has the appropriate execute permissions (chmod +x main.sh) for the alias to run properly.

Ensure that all shell script files have correct permissions set to allow execution. Otherwise, the scripts will not run correctly when selected from the menu.

This project provides a simple and intuitive way of managing and executing a large collection of shell scripts. By categorically structuring and automatically populating shell script menus, it eases the interface for users, making it more manageable and user-friendly.