11-05-2008
Tests for existence of files/directories
Hi,
- The first question I have concerns a very fundamental aspect of a unix OS. Specifically, does unix treat everything as a file (ie a directory is just a type of file)?
- The reason I ask is that I am trying to determine which BASH unary operator I would to use to determine whether or not a directory exists. I am writing a BASH shell script where the user defines a directory in which data files will be placed. I would then like to check that the specified directory exists, and if not the script will error.
I am inclined to use the -d operator (file is a directory). Does this have an implicit test for existence?
The other choice I can think of is the -e operator (file exists). This would assume that unix treats directories as files.
I appreciate any help. Thank you.
Mike
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LEARN ABOUT OPENSOLARIS
test
test(1F) FMLI Commands test(1F)
NAME
test - condition evaluation command
SYNOPSIS
test expression
expression
DESCRIPTION
test evaluates the expression expression and if its value is true, sets a 0 (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.
All operators, flags, and brackets (brackets used as shown in the second SYNOPSIS line) must be separate arguments to test. Normally these
items are separated by spaces.
USAGE
Primitives
The following primitives are used to construct expression:
-r filename True if filename exists and is readable.
-w filename True if filename exists and is writable.
-x filename True if filename exists and is executable.
-f filename True if filename exists and is a regular file.
-d filename True if filename exists and is a directory.
-c filename True if filename exists and is a character special file.
-b filename True if filename exists and is a block special file.
-p filename True if filename exists and is a named pipe (FIFO).
-u filename True if filename exists and its set-user-ID bit is set.
-g filename True if filename exists and its set-group-ID bit is set.
-k filename True if filename exists and its sticky bit is set.
-s filename True if filename exists and has a size greater than 0.
-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 0.
-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.
Operators
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).
`(expression)` Parentheses for grouping. Notice also that parentheses are meaningful to the shell and, therefore, must be quoted.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWcsu |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
find(1), sh(1), attributes(5)
NOTES
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 super-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.
If more than one argument follows the -r through -n operators, only the first argument is examined; the others are ignored, unless a -a or
a -o is the second argument.
SunOS 5.11 5 Jul 1990 test(1F)