UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

hi!

i'm trying to get grep to do an exact match for the following pattern but..it's not quite working. I'm not too sure where did I get it wrong. any input is appreciated.

Code:

       

echo "$VAR" | grep -q '^test:[[:space:]]name'
	if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
printf "test name is not found \n"

    fi

on
solaris 5.10

What is not working? Did you use /usr/xpg4/bin/grep ?

hi! could you explain the differences between /usr/bin/grep and /usr/xpg4/bin/grep? will there be any script portability issue?

and would it correct to map it this way?

Code:

#!/bin/sh
grep=/usr/xpg4/bin/grep

See man grep on Solaris. The xpg4 version has a -q option.

What do you mean map? This puts it in the variable $grep
You could do this:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
export PATH="/usr/xpg4/bin:$PATH"

Actually, I reckon this would be a good way to start a script on Solaris:

Code:

#!/usr/xpg4/bin/sh
export PATH="/usr/xpg4/bin:$PATH"

Using XPG4 is the closest you can come to Posix compliance and should give you good portability. You would likely only need to change the shebang (#!) on the first line if you want to run it on another platform.

Thanks! You're the man!