read file through pipeline

Question

I have written an example code for reading the content of a file maitaining the end of line format using hack from the internet. I have called the shell file "pipeTesting" and the text file to display "textExample". "pipeTesting" works if I call the file as an argument of the shell script.

However, there are cases when files are retrieved via pipelines; if I provide the text to pipeTesting using a cat command, there are no arguments at all since echo $@ does not print anything. To note that I had to use -p /dev/stdin to create a case for pipeline usage and one for argument usage.

Is there a way to display the content of the file maitaining the end of the line in case of a pipeline?

thank you.

The code looks something like this:

#!/bin/bash

if [ -p /dev/stdin ]; then
    echo $@
else
    while read
    do
        echo $REPLY
    done < $1
fi
exit 0

Its application is:

$ cat textExample.txt
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
$ pipeTester textExample.txt 
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
$ cat textExample.txt | pipeTester 
_

Answer 1

#!/bin/sh

infile=${1--}

cat "$infile"

That is, set the infile variable to the name of the first argument, but if that's not available, set it to -. cat with - as input file name will read from standard input (i.e. from a pipe or a redirection).

---

Shorter:

#!/bin/sh

cat -- "${1--}"

or, as Stéphane points out,

cat -- "$@"

which would additionally allow you to give multiple filenames on the command line.

---

Shorter still:

alias PipeTester=cat

What you're doing is more or less a reimplementation of cat. Your PipeTester script may in fact be replaced by cat and the above does that by means of an alias.