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\section switch switch - conditionally execute a block of commands

\subsection switch-synopsis Synopsis
<tt>switch VALUE; [case [WILDCARD...]; [COMMANDS...]; ...] end</tt>

\subsection switch-description Description

\c switch performs one of several blocks of commands, depending on whether
a specified value equals one of several wildcarded values. \c case is used
together with the \c switch statement in order to determine which block should
be executed.

Each \c case command is given one or more parameters. The first \c case
command with a parameter that matches the string specified in the
switch command will be evaluated. \c case parameters may contain
wildcards. These need to be escaped or quoted in order to avoid
regular wildcard expansion using filenames.

Note that fish does not fall through on case statements. Only the
first matching case is executed.

Note that command substitutions in a case statement will be
evaluated even if its body is not taken. All substitutions, including
command substitutions, must be performed before the value can be compared
against the parameter.

\subsection switch-example Example

If the variable \$animal contains the name of an animal, the following
code would attempt to classify it:

<pre>
switch $animal
    case cat
        echo evil
    case wolf dog human moose dolphin whale
        echo mammal
    case duck goose albatross
        echo bird
    case shark trout stingray
        echo fish
    case '*'
        echo I have no idea what a $animal is
end
</pre>

If the above code was run with \c \$animal set to \c whale, the output
would be \c mammal.