Hi,

I know how to read a return code after executing a single command.
"echo $?". But I do not know how to sum the return code for a group of commands.

If I string 3 commands together and I do an echo $? all I get is the retunr code for the last command. Example below:

----------------------------
cat file1 | cut -f1-5 | sort > file2
status=$?

if [ $status -eq 0 ]; then
##continue with rest of my script
else
exit
fi
-----------------

I only get the return code for the last command, the "sort" command.

I want to make sure that the return code for all three commands added togther =0. Can this be done?

The problem is I need to amke sure all 3 commands ran succesful. My status check only tells me the last commadn worked.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.