'In bash, how to get the current status of set -x?

I would like to set -x temporarily in my script and then return in to the original state.

Is there a way to do it without starting new subshell? Something like

echo_was_on=.......
... ...
if $echo_was_on; then set -x; else set +x; fi
bashsetbuilt-in


Solution 1:[1]

reset_x=false
if ! [ -o xtrace ]; then
    set -x
    reset_x=true
fi

# do stuff

"$reset_x" && set +x

You test a shell option with the -o test (using [ as above or with test -o). If the xtrace option isn't set (set +x), then set it and set a flag to turn it off later.

In a function, you could even have set a RETURN trap to reset the setting when the function returns:

foo () {
    if ! [ -o xtrace ]; then
        set -x
        trap 'set +x' RETURN
    fi

    # rest of function body here
}

Solution 2:[2]

Or in a case statement

 case $- in
   *x* ) echo "X is set, do something here" ;;
   * )   echo "x NOT set" ;;
 esac

Solution 3:[3]

Here are re-usable functions, based on @shellter's and @glenn jackman's answers:

is_shell_attribute_set() { # attribute, like "e"
  case "$-" in
    *"$1"*) return 0 ;;
    *)    return 1 ;;
  esac
}


is_shell_option_set() { # option, like "pipefail"
  case "$(set -o | grep "$1")" in
    *on) return 0 ;;
    *)   return 1 ;;
  esac
}

Usage example:

set -e
if is_shell_attribute_set e; then echo "yes"; else echo "no"; fi # yes

set +e
if is_shell_attribute_set e; then echo "yes"; else echo "no"; fi # no

set -o pipefail
if is_shell_option_set pipefail; then echo "yes"; else echo "no"; fi # yes

set +o pipefail
if is_shell_option_set pipefail; then echo "yes"; else echo "no"; fi # no

Update: for Bash, test -o is a better way to accomplish the same, see @Kusalananda's answer.

Solution 4:[4]

Also: 

case $(set -o | grep xtrace | cut -f2) in
    off) do something ;;
    on)  do another thing ;;
esac

Solution 5:[5]

less verbose

[ ${-/x} != ${-} ] && tracing=1 || tracing=0

Solution 6:[6]

This should answer exactly the question, provided your okay with the bash extension (non POSIX) and you bash version supports it.

[[ $- =~ x ]] && echo_was_on=true || echo_was_on=false

Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source
Solution 1
Solution 2 Qix - MONICA WAS MISTREATED
Solution 3
Solution 4 glenn jackman
Solution 5 untore
Solution 6 user327407

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