This code always returns the TRUE answer but the value of $myvar is "null"
if [ $myvar = "true" ]
then
cat << EOF > file1
blabla
EOF
echo $myvar
else
cat << EOF > file1
blublu
EOF
echo $myvar
fi
Where did I make a mistake ?
Many Thanks
Olive
There are multiple obvious errors in the command.
About your if statement:
First of all, square brackets [] are an alternative version of the test command. You want to use no brackets or parentheses ().
When writing oneliner you need to end each part of the command with a semicolon ; or that your shell knows at which point you start a new command.
Also in nearly all cases you want to quote your variables.
This leaves you with the following:
if "$myvar" = "true"; then echo "is true"; echo "some other command"; else echo "is not true"; echo "another command; fi
I cannot say much about the rest of the command, as it is unclear what you are trying to do with all of these EOFs.
Related
I am trying to create following string
Beta-3.8.0
but shell script always omits the . period char no matter what I do.
echo "$readVersion"
if [ -z $readVersion ]
then
echo "readVersion is empty"
exit 1
fi;
IFS=.
set $readVersion
newVersion=$(echo "$2 + 1" | bc)
newBranch="Beta-$1.$newVersion.$3"
echo $newBranch
prints:
3.8.0
Beta-3 9 0
I have also tried
newBranch='Beta-'$1'.'$newVersion'.'$3
or
newBranch="Beta-{$1}.{$newVersion}.{$3}"
although this seems printing the right value echo "$1.$newVersion.$3" why not variable doesnt work ?
I need the variable to use later on in the script...
You can save and restore the IFS once you are done.
oldIFS=$IFS
IFS=.
set $readVersion
newVersion=$(echo "$2 + 1" | bc)
IFS=$oldIFS
newBranch="Beta-$1.$newVersion.$3"
echo "$newBranch"
Or you can quote when printing:
echo "$newBranch"
The former is a better idea IMO since it conveys your intention and would make the rest of the code use the "correct" IFS. The latter just circumvents the problem.
I am searching for a command, that separates all given parameters with a specific delimiter, and outputs them quoted.
Example (delimiter is set to be a colon :):
somecommand "this is" "a" test
should output
"this is":"a":"test"
I'm aware that the shell interprets the "" quotes before passing the parameters to the command. So what the command should actually do is to print out every given parameter in quotes and separate all these with a colon.
I'm also not seeking for a bash-only solution, but for the most elegant solution.
It is very easy to just loop over an array of these elements and do that, but the problem is that I have to use this inside a gnu makefile which only allows single line shell commands and uses sh instead of bash.
So the simpler the better.
How about
somecommand () {
printf '"%s"\n' "$#" | paste -s -d :
}
Use printf to add the quotes and print every entry on a separate line, then use paste with the -s ("serial") option and a colon as the delimiter.
Can be called like this:
$ somecommand "this is" "a" test
"this is":"a":"test"
apply_delimiter () {
(( $# )) || return
local res
printf -v res '"%s":' "$#"
printf '%s\n' "${res%:}"
}
Usage example:
$ apply_delimiter hello world "how are you"
"hello":"world":"how are you"
As indicated in a number of the comments, a simple "loop-over" approach, looping over each of the strings passed as arguments is a fairly straight-forward way to approach it:
delimit_colon() {
local first=1
for i in "$#"; do
if [ "$first" -eq 1 ]; then
printf "%s" "$i"
first=0
else
printf ":%s" "$i"
fi
done
printf "\n"
}
Which when combined with a short test script could be:
#!/bin/bash
delimit_colon() {
local first=1
for i in "$#"; do
if [ "$first" -eq 1 ]; then
printf "%s" "$i"
first=0
else
printf ":%s" "$i"
fi
done
printf "\n"
}
[ -z "$1" ] && { ## validate input
printf "error: insufficient input\n"
exit 1
}
delimit_colon "$#"
exit 0
Test Input/Output
$ bash delimitargs.sh "this is" "a" test
this is:a:test
Here a solution using the z-shell:
#!/usr/bin/zsh
# this is "somecommand"
echo '"'${(j_":"_)#}'"'
If you have them in an array already, you can use this command
MYARRAY=("this is" "a" "test")
joined_string=$(IFS=:; echo "$(MYARRAY[*])")
echo $joined_string
Setting the IFS (internal field separator) will be the character separator. Using echo on the array will display the array using the newly set IFS. Putting those commands in $() will put the output of the echo into joined_string.
I want in a bash script (Linux) to check, if two files are identical.
I use the following code:
#!/bin/bash
…
…
differ=$(diff $FILENAME.out_ok $FILENAME.out)
echo "******************"
echo $differ
echo "******************"
if [ $differ=="" ]
then
echo "pass"
else
echo "Error ! different output"
echo $differ
fi
The problem:
the diff command return white space and break the if command
output
******************
82c82 < ---------------------- --- > ---------------------
******************
./test.sh: line 32: [: too many arguments
Error ! different output
The correct tool for checking whether two files are identical is cmp.
if cmp -s $FILENAME.out_ok $FILENAME.out
then : They are the same
else : They are different
fi
Or, in this context:
if cmp -s $FILENAME.out_ok $FILENAME.out
then
echo "pass"
else
echo "Error ! different output"
diff $FILENAME.out_ok $FILENAME.out
fi
If you want to use the diff program, then double quote your variable (and use spaces around the arguments to the [ command):
if [ -z "$differ" ]
then
echo "pass"
else
echo "Error ! different output"
echo "$differ"
fi
Note that you need to double quote the variable when you echo it to ensure that newlines etc are preserved in the output; if you don't, everything is mushed onto a single line.
Or use the [[ test:
if [[ "$differ" == "" ]]
then
echo "pass"
else
echo "Error ! different output"
echo "$differ"
fi
Here, the quotes are not strictly necessary around the variable in the condition, but old school shell scripters like me would put them there automatically and harmlessly. Roughly, if the variable might contain spaces and the spaces matter, it should be double quoted. I don't see a need to learn a special case for the [[ command when it works fine with double quotes too.
Instead of:
if [ $differ=="" ]
Use:
if [[ $differ == "" ]]
Better to use modern [[ and ]] instead of an external program /bin/[
Also use diff -b to compare 2 files while ignoring white spaces
#anubhava answer is correct,
you can also use
if [ "$differ" == "" ]
This function works:
source foo.bash && foo -n "a b c.txt"
The problem is, no matter what I've tried, I couldn't get the last line echo "$CMD" (or echo $CMD) to generate exactly this output:
cat -n "a b c.txt"
How to achieve that?
# foo.bash
function foo() {
local argv=("$#");
local OUT=`cat "${argv[#]}"`
local CMD=`echo cat "${argv[#]}"`
echo "--------------------------"
echo "$OUT"
echo "--------------------------"
echo "$CMD"
}
The output is instead:
cat -n a b c.txt
With this command: foo -n \"a b c.txt\" it does work for the display of the command, but it gives errors for the execution via the backtick.
The file "a b c.txt" is a valid, small, text file.
You need to escape quotes inside of the assignment:
local CMD="cat \"${argv[#]}\""
Also, echo is not needed to concatenate strings.
There you go, with the help of number of tokens in bash variable I've come up with the right solution.
I've almost forgot WHY we actually need quoting for one argument, it's because it has multiple words!
function foo() {
local argv=( "$#" );
local OUT=`cat "${argv[#]}"`
echo "--------------------------"
echo "$OUT"
echo "--------------------------"
local CMD="cat"
for word in "${argv[#]}"; do
words="${word//[^\ ]} "
if [[ ${#words} > 1 ]]; then
local CMD="$CMD \"${word}\""
else
local CMD="$CMD $word"
fi
done
echo "$CMD"
}
Hope it helps someone.
I'm trying to write a shell script which will compare two files, and if there are no differences between then, it will indicate that there was a success, and if there are differences, it will indicate that there was a failure, and print the results. Here's what I have so far:
result = $(diff -u file1 file2)
if [ $result = "" ]; then
echo It works!
else
echo It does not work
echo $result
fi
Anybody know what I'm doing wrong???
result=$(diff -u file1 file2)
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "It works!"
else
echo "It does not work"
echo "$result"
fi
Suggestions:
No spaces around "=" in the variable assignment for results
Use $? status variable after running diff instead of the string length of $result.
I'm in the habit of using backticks for command substitution instead of $(), but #Dennis Williamson cites some good reasons to use the latter after all. Thanks Dennis!
Applied quotes per suggestions in comments.
Changed "=" to "-eq" for numeric test.
First, you should wrap strings being compared with quotes.
Second, "!" cannot be use it has another meaning. You can wrap it with single quotes.
So your program will be.
result=$(diff -u file1 file2)
if [ "$result" == "" ]; then
echo 'It works!'
else
echo It does not work
echo "$result"
fi
Enjoy.
Since you need results when you fail, why not simply use 'diff -u file1 file2' in your script? You may not even need a script then. If diff succeeds, nothing will happen, else the diff will be printed.
bash string equivalence is "==".
-n is non-zero string, -z is zero length string, wrapping in quotes because the command will complain if the output of diff is longer than a single string with "too many arguments".
so
if [ -n "$(diff $1 $2)" ]; then
echo "Different"
fi
or
if [ -z "$(diff $1 $2)" ]; then
echo "Same"
fi