Bash function to create the next SVN release tag

Question

I've created the below script and would appreciate any feedback.

# svn directory ^/tags/release/
# 1/
# 2/
# 3/
# 4/
# usage: svnnextrelease fixes email formatting 
# generated line: svn cp ^/trunk ^/tags/release/# -m'fixes email formatting'
function svnnextrelease(){
NextVersion=$(svn ls ^/tags/release | tail -n 1 | while read tag; do expr $(echo "${tag%?}") + 1; done)
# svn ls ^/tags/release, listing the directories
# tail -n 1, give me the last (latest) directory
# while loop reads result
# expr $(echo "${tag%?}") + 1, echo statment removes the "/" so 4/ becomes 4. expr then increments it.
# echo $NextVersion; 5
svn cp ^/trunk ^/tags/release/$NextVersion -m'$@'
}

Answer 1

Here is a small improvement.

svnnextrelease() {
 v=$(svn ls ^/tags/release | tail -n 1)
 svn cp ^/trunk ^/tags/release/$((${v%/} + 1 )) -m "$@"
}

• You can use $(( )) as a replacement for expr in bash. (depends on your taste.)
• bash can cheaply get rid of / for you.