hello,

i want to know how to initialize a file to an empty one in korn shell scripting? i'm using a file name and building it during a while loop using >>. The problem occurs when the file is not empty before reaching the while loop. therefore, i want to initialize it before the loop to get rid of any prior data.. how can i do that with korn shell scripting?

thanks

This will overwrite OR create the file

thanks Ikon, but this creates an empty line at the beginning of the file. how can i achieve the same result withouth the beginning empty line?

thank you soooo much!

or a more "elegant" way

if [ -e /path/to/file ]
rm /path/to/file
fi

altho that is an uncesesary if, you can simple try to rm it and disble output

rm /path/to/file > /dev/null 2>&1

Adding more shell commands matters while running shell script as it invoke subshell.
IMO echoing is good option. as echo is a builtin command.

- nilesh