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Problem when passing argument to a shell script

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# 1  
Old 12-13-2006
Problem when passing argument to a shell script
Hi all,

I'm new to Shell scripting. In my shell script for Bourne shell, the script accepts a date parameter which is optional. If the value is supplied, the supplied value should be assigned to a variable. If not, the current date will be assigned to the variable. My script is like this.

Code:
#! /bin/sh

if [ ! -z $1 ]
then
dateval=`date`
elif [ $dateval -gt date ];then
echo "Supplied date is greater than current date"
else
 dateval=$1
fi
echo $dateval

When i run the script, it says

./shellpgm30.sh: test: argument expected

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sumesh
sumesh.abraham
# 2  
Old 12-13-2006
Please use code tags when you are posting some code. I put your code within the tags.

In your script, the value of $dateval is not initialized in elif [ $dateval -gt date ];then. and hence you cant test it against date.

And how can you compare dates with the -gt construct ?

And what is date in that same line. Did you mean $date ?

Try this.
Code:
#! /bin/sh

if [ $# -eq 0 ] ; then
  dateval=`date`
else
  dateval=$1
fi
echo $dateval

Last edited by vino; 12-13-2006 at 06:01 AM..
# 3  
Old 12-13-2006
You are getting this error since $1 does not contain any value.Use double square brackets to avoid this problem.
Code:
if [[ -z $1 ]]

# 4  
Old 12-13-2006
Thanks Vino. The problem is solved.
Anbu,

Code:
if [[ -z $1 ]]

does not work.

It tells
Code:
./shellpgm30.sh: [[: not found

Is it the snippet for ksh.

Appreciate your help
sumesh.abraham
# 5  
Old 12-13-2006
[[ works in both ksh and bash
# 6  
Old 12-13-2006
Anbu,
Thanks for the reply.

I'm using sh. The sample code is given below.

Code:
#! /bin/sh
if [[ -z $1 ]]
then
echo "Does not contain any value"
else
 echo "Contains value"
fi

I executed the script as
Code:
 ./shellpgm32.sh

I get error as
Code:
./shellpgm32.sh: [[: not found

Can u please explain?

Thanks,
Sumesh
sumesh.abraham
# 7  
Old 12-13-2006
I think [[ is not available in bourne shell.
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