test(1)
test --
condition evaluation command
Synopsis
test expr
[ expr ]
Description
test
evaluates the expression
expr
and, if its value is true, sets a zero (true) exit status; otherwise, a
non-zero (false) exit status is set;
test
also
sets a non-zero exit status if there are no arguments.
When permissions are tested,
the effective user ID of the process is used.
test processes supplementary code set characters in expr
according to the locale specified in the LC_CTYPE
environment variable [see LANG on
environ(5)].
All operators, flags, and brackets
(brackets used as shown in the second Synopsis line)
must be separate arguments to the
test
command;
normally these items are separated by spaces.
The following primitives are used to construct expr.
Most of these primitives perform unary operations: that is,
they take only one argument.
If more than one argument follows any of the r, w, x, f, d, h, c, b, p,
u, g, k, s, t, z, or n operators, only the first argument
is examined; the others are ignored (unless a -a or a -o
is the second argument).
-r file-
true if file exists and is readable.
-w file-
true if file exists and is writable.
-x file-
true if
file
exists and is executable.
-f file-
true if file exists and is a regular file.
Alternatively, if
/usr/bin/sh
users specify
/usr/ucb
before
/usr/bin
in their
PATH
environment variable, then
test
will return true if
file
exists and is
not a directory.
This is also the default for
/usr/bin/csh
users.
-d file-
true if file exists and is a directory.
-h file-
true if file exists and is a symbolic link. With all other
primitives (except -L file),
the symbolic links are followed by default.
-c file-
true
if
file
exists and is a character special file.
-b file-
true if
file
exists and is a block special file.
-p file-
true if
file
exists and is a named pipe (fifo).
-u file-
true if
file
exists and its set-user-ID
bit is set.
-g file-
true if
file
exists and its set-group-ID
bit is set.
-k file-
true if
file
exists and its sticky bit is set.
-s file-
true if file exists and has a size greater than zero.
-t [fildes]-
true if the open file whose file descriptor number is
fildes
(1 by default)
is associated with a terminal device.
-z s1-
true if the length of string
s1
is zero.
-n s1-
true if the length of the string
s1
is non-zero.
s1 = s2-
true
if strings
s1
and
s2
are identical.
s1 != s2-
true
if strings
s1
and
s2
are
not
identical.
s1-
true if
s1
is
not
the null string.
n1 -eq n2-
true if the integers
n1
and
n2
are algebraically equal.
Any of the comparisons
-ne,
-gt,
-ge,
-lt,
and
-le
may be used in place of
-eq.
-L file-
true if file exists and is a symbolic link. With all other
primitives (except -h file),
the symbolic links are followed by default.
These primaries may be combined with the
following operators:
``!''-
unary negation operator.
-a-
binary
and
operator.
-o-
binary
or
operator
(-a
has higher precedence than
-o).
(expr)-
parentheses for grouping.
Notice also that parentheses are meaningful
to the shell and, therefore, must be quoted.
Files
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore.abi-
language-specific message file [See LANG on
environ(5).]
References
find(1),
csh(1),
sh(1),
ksh88(1),
ksh(1)
Notices
The not-a-directory alternative to the
-f
option is a transition aid for
applications and may not be supported in future releases.
The
-L
option is a migration aid for users of other shells
which have similar options and may not be supported in
future releases.
If you test a file you own
(the
-r,
-w,
or
-x
tests),
but the permission tested does not have the
owner
bit set,
a non-zero (false) exit status will be returned
even though the file may have the
group
or
other
bit set for that permission.
The correct exit status will be set if you are
a privileged user.
The
=
and
!=
operators have a higher precedence than the
-r
through
-n
operators,
and
=
and
!=
always expect arguments;
therefore,
=
and
!=
cannot be used with the
-r
through
-n
operators.
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 25 April 2004