How to call a shell function

Question

How can I use the integer value returned by a function in shell script that takes some arguments as input?

I am using the following code:

fun()
{
    echo "hello ${1}"
    return 1
}

a= fun 2
echo $a

I am not sure how should I call this function. I tried the methods below, bot none of them seems to work:

a= fun 2
a=`fun 2`
a=${fun 2}

Solution 1

The exit code is contained in $?:

fun 2
a=$?

Solution 2

you may have a look at the following question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8742783/returning-value-from-called-function-in-shell-script with a long and well explained answer. Regards.

Comments

[Wildcard]

FYI, this uses a nonstandard function definition syntax.