while read line; do
if [ $cont -eq 5 ]; then
read -p "Press Enter to continue..."
cont=0
fi
echo $line
let cont++
done < file.txt
However, I have read that the read -p would not work in a while loop...
I was wondering if there is any other way to pause the loop to wait for a key to continue..
I have tried putting the 'read -p "text"' in a function and calling it inside the while loop, also doing 'dd count=1 1>/dev/null 2>&1'... But I've had no luck..
The standard input to your loop is redirected from file.txt , so both read commands in the loop are reading from that file.
If you want to have the outer read read from the file and the inner read read from the script's standard input, you can try something like:
#!/bin/bash
cont=0
while read line <&3
do if [ $cont -eq 5 ]
then read -p "Press Enter to continue..."
cont=0
fi
printf '%s\n' "$line"
cont=$((cont + 1))
done 3< file.txt
or, if you want the inner read to read from the process's controlling terminal, you can try something more like:
#!/bin/bash
cont=0
while read line
do if [ $cont -eq 5 ]
then read -p "Press Enter to continue..." < /dev/tty
cont=0
fi
printf '%s\n' "$line"
cont=$((cont + 1))
done < file.txt
