Questions tagged [test]
This is about the Unix utility "test," also invoked as "[", or its shell syntax [[ … ]] variant. For questions about testing software and setups, use the "testing" tag.
348
questions
2
votes
2
answers
32
views
Test fails (correctly) on command line, but succeeds (incorrectly) in script
For the sake of this question, assume that the glob /a/b/c/* produces no matches.
This means that the following test should fail (in other words, it should produce a non-zero $?):
[[ -n /a/b/c/*(#qN) ]...
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4
votes
2
answers
309
views
Meaning of the statement - test -x /usr/bin/find || exit 0
I just wanted to understand the meaning of the following statement and whether they seem correct.
test -x /usr/bin/find || exit 0
Command 1
Command 2
Command 3
The output of test -x /usr/bin/find is ...
- 205
0
votes
1
answer
50
views
test -R True if the shell variable VAR is set and is a name reference
First I follow this answer then I search about test -v then https://linuxcommand.org/lc3_man_pages/testh.html shows that there is an R option.
test -R seems related to name preference.
Then I search ...
- 411
7
votes
1
answer
292
views
Unary test -v on an array element
In bash, the conditional expression with the unary test -v myvariable tests wether the variable myvariable has been set. Note that myvariable should not be expanded by prefixing it with a dollar, so ...
- 277
16
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Bash negation of -a (file exists) does not change result, whereas for ! -e changes result
I'm perplexed but still guess I misunderstood Bash somehow.
/$ if [ -e /bin/grep ]; then echo yea; else echo nay ; fi
yea
/$ if [ ! -e /bin/grep ]; then echo yea; else echo nay ; fi
nay
/$ if [ -a ...
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0
votes
0
answers
20
views
PHY (Backplane) doesn't link to my NIC
I need to find out something about the auto-negotiation because the PHY VSC8489 doesn't build a link with my NIC. Maybe this is because the auto-negotiation isn't successful regarding the supported ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
833
views
"if pgrep" no longer works if I use [[ or [
I'm trying to detect if a process (goland.sh) is running. I used this:
#!/bin/bash
if pgrep "goland.sh" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
echo "running"
exit 1
fi
echo &...
- 304
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
Difference between if [ ... and test ... statement in bash
Consider the following:
echo "hello" > file.txt
is_match1 () {
local m
m=$(cat "file.txt" | grep -F "$1")
if [ -z "$m" ]; then
return 1
fi
}
...
- 367
8
votes
1
answer
702
views
Why is Bash not evaluating the executable bit correctly in Alpine 3.14.2?
In a dockerized Alpine 3.14.2 running Bash 5.1.4(1), I encountered a strange behaviour in a Bash script. The essential line is a test for executability of a file, which always fails. This is the if ...
- 151
0
votes
1
answer
75
views
how to nest conditional script operators -a -o in an if statement in bash
If i want to combine the -a and -o script operators in an if statement, how could I do that? For example:
if [ ( -e file.txt -a -r file.txt ) -o ( -e file2.txt -a -r file2.txt ) ]; then .... fi
Can I ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
Why is the test command output backwards? [duplicate]
If I run
help test
, I get this:
Evaluate conditional expression.
Exits with a status of 0 (true) or 1 (false) depending on
the evaluation of EXPR.
Why is this so counterintuitive? Why does it ...
- 101
2
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Test if a command's output is an empty string and print its results if its not empty [duplicate]
I am using solutions from Test if a command outputs an empty string. In addition to those solutions, I want to print command's output if its not empty.
I was wondering would it be possible to print ...
- 230
0
votes
0
answers
80
views
SMART Did extended test run succesfully?
Problem
I have a brand new WD Elements 4 TB disk. Before starting to use the disk, I ran an extended SMART test. To my understanding, this should examine the complete disk surface.
However, SMART ...
- 1
0
votes
3
answers
114
views
Is parameter expansion in test expression possible?
When I try the following expression in bash I get a strange error message:
[: -lt: unary operator expected
First the function definition
some_func () {
(( 3 + 5 ))
}
And the expression
[ $(...
- 303
0
votes
1
answer
282
views
How to limit the length of a user input in a bash script?
I am trying to create a simple bash script to read user input and use this input as a variable within my script.
It currently looks like this :
echo "Please specify file:"
read FILE
What I ...
user473736
2
votes
1
answer
179
views
Why is not 'test -z =' an error after all?
I have a book that stated:
"....For example, if the shell variable symbol contains an equal sign,
look at what happens if you try to test it for zero length:
$ echo $symbol
=
$ test -z "$...
- 161
-3
votes
3
answers
145
views
How can i test something like if it's the format of car plate?
I need to test if an input it has the fromat of a car plate (0000-XYZ) and from the japanese ZIP wich the format is 000-0000
- 27
4
votes
1
answer
473
views
Grep command not returning expected results for testing
I am attempting to do a comparison before I append conditions to a profile.d file
A grep -F 'TMOUT' /etc/profile.d/sh.local shows me exactly what I expect however the test is always showing true. In ...
- 43
1
vote
1
answer
513
views
bash can't find closing bracket?
I am writing a bash script to makup the MariaDB instance on a Synology box. When I run it, it works, but I get an error:
admin@synology:/volume1/@appstore/MariaDB10/usr/local/bip$ ./mysql_backup
./...
- 4,225
1
vote
2
answers
117
views
Using test and date to compare current hour ro range
I am new to Gnu/Linux and bash, and I am trying, unsuccessfully, to write a simple bash script to test if date +%H is within a predefined range of hours.
Example:
hour='date +%H'
if [[ $hour -ge 12 ]] ...
- 13
0
votes
0
answers
185
views
How to inject command into test command
I have a self written script like (./myscript) and I want to call some commands in that script. So I want to learn how to inject commands into a shell script like this one:
#!/bin/bash
set -x
if ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
112
views
How can I make a dummy directory tree with dummy files that contain realistic data?
I'm looking for preferably a one-liner that drops a directory tree a few layers deep with files that contain "realistic" data, as in, not /dev/zero nor /dev/urandom. Data that noticeably ...
- 293
-1
votes
1
answer
195
views
variable regex test in dash?
I got plenty possible variables in a form of [a-z][0-9], eg 1 letter and 1 number.
Is there a way to test them in dash? Something like:
myvar=o7
if [ $myvar=o[0-4] ]; then
"do this"
elif [ $...
user434951
0
votes
3
answers
176
views
How do i use the && and || operators with more than two variables correctly?
I'm trying to compare the state of more than two variables. The use-case is a script that, among other options, should select (or auto-select) only one of several "modes" based on available ...
- 1,827
4
votes
3
answers
742
views
Is it possible to have conditionals in /etc/rc.local?
Is it possible to have a conditional within /etc/rc.local?
I've checked many Q&As and most people suggest running chmod +x on it, but my problem is different. It actually does work for me without ...
- 471
2
votes
1
answer
472
views
What is the difference between square brackets and test command on bash?
Single square brackets [ and testcommand both are built in the bash shell.
Why are there two separate commands if both square brackets [ and test commands have the same function?
- 1,082
0
votes
1
answer
70
views
one line definition of a variable conditional on the output of a logical test
In bash programming I've always defined conditional variables in the following long hand way
dog=1
if [[ $dog -eq 1 ]] ; then
cow=1
else
cow=0
fi
This is obviously incredibly inefficient. In ...
- 423
0
votes
3
answers
813
views
How to test if one or more files with a prefix exists in bash? e.g. [[-f foo*]]
Is there a way to use a Filename Expansion within a test expression, more specifically, a bash conditional expression?
For example:
[[ -f foo* ]] && echo 'found it!' || echo 'nope!';
... will ...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
99
views
What's the difference between test command and individual conditional expression surrounded by [[]]? [duplicate]
I am learning the zsh in the conditional expressions part, and I found some unreasonable output.
For example:
$ mkdir emptyspace && cd emptyspace
$ var_assigned_with_emptystring=""
$...
- 355
0
votes
1
answer
669
views
Why does using double brackets "[[" to check if wildcard matched files exists fail, while single brackets "[" work?
Let's say I generate a two directories with text files in each like so
mkdir "Directory1"
mkdir "Directory2"
touch "Directory1/fileclass1_"{1..5}".txt"
touch &...
- 251
0
votes
2
answers
91
views
Using command test with $_1/
I'm trying to understand the command below, and particularly the parts that are in bold.
I understand what the second line is. It's testing if a file exists and if it doesn't, it creates one, but what ...
- 1
0
votes
4
answers
863
views
How do I evaluate a variable with a string in the POSIX shell?
I have a script that I am running inside a ubuntu container:
#!/bin/sh
name=$(cat < /etc/os-release | grep "^NAME" | cut -d "=" -f 2)
if [ $name = "Ubuntu" ]
then
...
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28
votes
1
answer
3k
views
These two Bash lines are functionally equivalent. Can someone explain why one is faster?
$ time if [[ $dir2 -ot $dir1 ]] ; then open $dir2 ; else open $dir1 ; fi
real 0m0.055s
user 0m0.023s
sys 0m0.018s
$ time [[ $dir2 -ot $dir1 ]] && open $dir2 || open $dir1
real ...
- 297
2
votes
1
answer
197
views
Testing if a string is a number
That should be easy, just use [[ "$var" =~ '^[1-9][0-9]*$' ]]. But I don't get the behavior I expect excepted with zsh. I don't control the machine where the script will be run, so portability along ...
- 2,198
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Bash while condition
I have two conditions wait some time and check if within directory is more than one file. When one of these conditions is true loop has to be done so it is normal OR logical statement.
The expected ...
- 31
0
votes
3
answers
67
views
Less than operator in script from piped command
I'm using Ubuntu 18.04 and working with ansible. I've got a test to see if somethings changed. Essentially, if the number of lines after grepping are "less than 2".
I can retrieve the number using ...
- 109
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Check if symlink is broken or doesn't exist
Trying to make an if statement that checks if a file is a valid symlink (meaning it also exists).
I tried:
[ -h "$1" -a ! -e "$1" ]
... buut it doesn't work. I want to execute code if the file isn'...
- 1,035
1
vote
0
answers
42
views
How to curl multiple URL's from a text file containing URL's [duplicate]
I have a script on a linux server which connects to a URL refines the data and returns a text file with multiple links, please see below:
Script:
#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/curl -k -s URL | cut --...
- 53
1
vote
0
answers
26
views
string comparison with [ ] fails [duplicate]
#!/bin/bash
echo "Enter any string"
read string
string1 = $(echo $string | rev)
if ["$string" == "$string1"]
then
echo "String is palindrome"
else
echo "String is not Palindrome"
fi
I am ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Missing space after bash test bultin - legal syntax or undefined?
I made a small mistake today when writing a bash script. The following code
#!/bin/bash
if [ -n "${UNDEFINED_VAR}"]; then
echo 'string not empty'
echo "$UNDEFINED_VAR"
else
echo 'string ...
- 220
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to check if all arguments are files?
How do you check if all arguments passed to a shell script are files? I tried to use the $@ parameter and -f with an if statement.
- 95
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votes
1
answer
7k
views
conditional binary operator expected
var="$(command1 -l '$var2' -c 'command2|grep -c "search"')"
if [[ var !=0 ]]; then
fi
Why am I getting "conditional binary operator expected". I searched already and. I. see that [[]] is a test ...
- 83
0
votes
2
answers
49
views
Test size of newest file
I want to check if the size of the newest file is greater than 2 MB:
test $(ls -st | head -n2 | tail -n1 | awk '{print $1}') -gt 2097152 && echo "true"
Is there a more efficient or elegant ...
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-3
votes
1
answer
941
views
Check for non-empty string in the shell (instead of ! -z)
I know there is a way to do this but internet search results always suck with this search -
I want to do:
if [[ ! -z "$var" ]]; then
# ....
fi
but I can never remember, I think it's like this:
...
- 8,176
0
votes
2
answers
321
views
sh (not bash) does not recognize single [ or double [[ brackets?
I have this script:
#!/usr/bin/env sh
# note: we must use sh instead of bash, it's more cross-platform
set -e;
if [[ "$skip_postinstall" == "yes" ]]; then # TODO rename 'skip_postinstall' to ...
- 8,176
0
votes
3
answers
110
views
Why test -n returns true even when a variable is empty? What am I doing wrong? [duplicate]
according to the test(1) manpages:
-n STRING
the length of STRING is nonzero
so I expected this to run fine:
[ -n ${var} ] && echo "var is not empty"
I used this ...
- 117
6
votes
1
answer
800
views
What's the difference between `-h` and `-L` in bash conditional expressions?
According to the man page:
-h file
True if file exists and is a symbolic link.
...
-L file
True if file exists and is a symbolic link.
They both seem to ...
- 1,099
0
votes
1
answer
27
views
bash script for checking to see .AWK extension
if [ ! $var = " *.awk " ] ; then
echo "$var contains awk file"
fi
this is what I have but when I run it and put a file name without .awk it still says contains awk file
10
votes
2
answers
13k
views
Pattern matching in a zsh conditional expression
I am having trouble with pattern matching in zsh's hook function precmd. I have the following:
precmd(){
local x='test'
if [ $x = '*test*' ]; then
echo 'hello'
fi
}
which does not ...
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2
votes
1
answer
189
views
How to confirm if pathname exists?
How do I test whether a pathname exists?
Previously I was using:
realpath -e /some/path
Which works except if /some/path is a broken symlink, in which case it reports that it does not exist.
[ -e /...
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