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# 1  
Old 02-06-2009
Test: argument expected.
Hi,
Since i am new to Unix and on suggestion on some smart guys on unix... i have decide to learn more deeply on Unix...so i was kind of playing with if statements and found this error... though i tried to correct is for hours now i couldnt find whats wrong in my loop.

Code:
if [ -f a.out ]
then
   GRP_CNT=`wc -w a.out | awk ' { print $1 }'`  # Count the number of group numbers in a.out
   echo "$GRP_CNT"
fi
if [ ${GRP_CNT} -gt 0 ]
then
    while [ $GRP_CNT -gt 0 ]
    do
      if test $GRP_CNT -gt 0
      then
         GRP_NUM=`head -$GRP_CNT a.out | tail -1 | awk ' { print $1 }'`
         grep $GRP_NUM $HOME/tmpdata/*.dat >> abc.out
      else
         exit 1
      fi
      GRP_CNT=`expr $GRP_CNT - 1`
     done
else
     SUBJ="${SCRIPT_NAME} for ${CURRENT_DATE}"
     MSG="No .bad file not found. Runtime=$(Elapsed_Time ${START_TIME})" 
     Handle_Error
     exit 1
fi

The above code runs fine when GRP_CNT is greater then 0 but gives me this error at line if [ ${GRP_CNT} -gt 0 ] when its not greater then 0

Can any one say me why and where I went wrong

Thanks
Bhagya
# 2  
Old 02-06-2009
put all your references of GRP_CNT in double quotes like so:

"${GRP_CNT}"

Then all your tests at least won't get an error message.

But secondly, doing word count on an executable ( wc -w a.out )
makes no sense.

a.out is a binary

wc is designed to work on ASCII, printable-only characters.
# 3  
Old 02-06-2009
Well you are right by having double codes (") it worked and i am not having the error meaage anymore... but now i am geting the else mail twice... i should only get once...
# 4  
Old 02-06-2009
The mail problem must occur somewhere else other than the code you posted,
in the Handle_Error function.

Either that, or the code you provided is in a loop somewhere.
# 5  
Old 02-06-2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhagya2340
Hi,
Since i am new to Unix and on suggestion on some smart guys on unix... i have decide to learn more deeply on Unix...so i was kind of playing with if statements and found this error... though i tried to correct is for hours now i couldnt find whats wrong in my loop.

Code:
if [ -f a.out ]
then
   GRP_CNT=`wc -w a.out | awk ' { print $1 }'`  # Count the number of group numbers in a.out


There's no need for awk:

Code:
GRP_CNT=`wc -w < a.out`

Quote:
Code:
   echo "$GRP_CNT"
fi
if [ ${GRP_CNT} -gt 0 ]


Give the variable a default value in case a.out doesn't exist:

Code:
if [ ${GRP_CNT:=0} -gt 0 ]

(Or initialize it before checking for a.out.)

Quote:
Code:
then
    while [ $GRP_CNT -gt 0 ]
    do
      if test $GRP_CNT -gt 0


Why are you testing $GRP_CNT twice. You already know is is greater than 0, so your else clause will never be executed.
Quote:
Code:
      then
         GRP_NUM=`head -$GRP_CNT a.out | tail -1 | awk ' { print $1 }'`


You don't need head or tail:

Code:
GRP_NUM=`awk -v n=$GRP_CNT 'NR == n { print $1; exit }'`

Quote:
Code:
         grep $GRP_NUM $HOME/tmpdata/*.dat >> abc.out
      else
         exit 1
      fi
      GRP_CNT=`expr $GRP_CNT - 1`


There's no need for an external command for integer arithmetic; it's built into the shell:

Code:
GRP_CNT=$(( $GRP_CNT - 1 ))

Quote:
Code:
     done
else
     SUBJ="${SCRIPT_NAME} for ${CURRENT_DATE}"
     MSG="No .bad file not found. Runtime=$(Elapsed_Time ${START_TIME})" 
     Handle_Error
     exit 1
fi

The above code runs fine when GRP_CNT is greater then 0 but gives me this error at line if [ ${GRP_CNT} -gt 0 ] when its not greater then 0

Can any one say me why and where I went wrong

Thanks
Bhagya
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