UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

hey peeps

could someone explain what this part of the code means:

'if echo $* | grep -q' $i '|| [ $# = 0 ]

thanks
tHe_nEw_GuY

'if echo $* | grep -q' $i '|| [ $# = 0 ]

This is a test of command line arguments. "echo $*" displays all of the command line arguments passed into the shell and pipes it to grep. The -q flag puts grep in quiet mode, returning exit status of 0 if grep found a matching line. In the line above, grep is searching for the value contained in the variable $i. The last bit is the second part of the test which is a test of the total number of command line arguments, which is simply asking "If the number of arguments equals 0". Putting it all together, it reads something like this: "If $i matches a command line parameter or if there are no command line parameters passed in" then "do something" (you didnt post this portion)

thanks for the explanation mate.
appreciate it!!