Hi.

I think the advice you cited is correct.

Code:

              -n      Read commands but do not execute them.  This may be used
                      to  check  a  shell  script  for syntax errors. 
-- excerpt from man bash

I may be using Wiktionary definition 3 in this response , but I think you desire a code in the vein of definition 2.

If I have some time, I'll poke around to see if I can find is anything along those lines.

It's possible that if you have such complex shell scripts that you need a semantic checker, then you may be at the point to consider writing the solution in a more appropriate language (or structure) ... cheers, drl

PS The code

Code:

set -o nounset

will diagnose undefined variables.