How do I use the builtin bash select command in a shell script?

hoodedvul

The select builtin is useful for creating menus.

select choice in earth water fire wind;
do
        case $REPLY in
          1)
            echo "You picked $choice"
            ;;
          2)
            echo "You picked $choice"
            ;;
          3)
            echo "You picked $choice"
            ;;
          4)
            echo "You picked $choice"
            ;;
        esac
done

Running the script given the following results:

$ ./select.sh
1) earth
2) water
3) fire
4) wind
#? 2
You picked water
#? 4
You picked wind
#?

Additional things to improve the functionality.

The #? is the value of PS3 prompt. This can be more readable.
There is no option to quit from a user perspective.
You might want to do something more useful than echoing a line.
Clear the terminal.
Make the output more readable with line spacing.
Give the user valid options when an incorrect option is selected.
Title the menu.

The script below uses the select command and the case command.

PS3="Your Selection: "

clear

echo "Operator Menu"
echo "============="

select choice in who uptime date "quit menu";
do
        case $REPLY in
          1)
            "$choice"
            echo ""
            ;;
          2)
            "$choice"
            echo ""
            ;;
          3)
            "$choice"
            echo ""
            ;;
          4)
            echo -e "Quitting menu\n"
            break
            ;;
          *)
            echo -e "Valid options are 1, 2, 3 or 4\n"
            ;;
        esac
done

Running the script gives the following results:

Operator Menu
=============
1) who
2) uptime
3) date
4) quit menu
Your Selection: 1
training pts/0        2020-06-28 06:21 (192.168.0.122)

Your Selection: 3
Sun 28 Jun 07:47:33 EDT 2020

Your Selection: y
Valid options are 1, 2, 3, or 4

Your Selection: 4
Quitting menu