test(1) — sysv — mips UMIPS RISC/os 4.52



TEST(1-SysV)        RISC/os Reference Manual         TEST(1-SysV)



NAME
     test - condition evaluation command

SYNOPSIS
     test expr
     [ expr ]

DESCRIPTION
     test evaluates the expression expr and, if its value is
     true, sets a zero (true) exit status; otherwise, a non-zero
     (false) exit status is set; test also sets a non-zero exit
     status if there are no arguments.  When permissions are
     tested, the effective user ID of the process is used.

     All operators, flags, and brackets (brackets used as shown
     in the second SYNOPSIS line) must be separate arguments to
     the test command; normally these items are separated by
     spaces.

     The following primitives are used to construct expr:

     -r file             true if file exists and is readable.

     -w file             true if file exists and is writable.

     -x file             true if file exists and is executable.

     -f file             true if file exists and is a regular
                         file.

     -d file             true if file exists and is a directory.

     -c file             true if file exists and is a character
                         special file.

     -b file             true if file exists and is a block spe-
                         cial file.

     -p file             true if file exists and is a named pipe
                         (fifo).

     -u file             true if file exists and its set-user-ID
                         bit is set.

     -g file             true if file exists and its set-group-ID
                         bit is set.

     -k file             true if file exists and its sticky bit
                         is set.

     -s file             true if file exists and has a size
                         greater than zero.



                         Printed 1/15/91                   Page 1



TEST(1-SysV)        RISC/os Reference Manual         TEST(1-SysV)



     -t [ fildes ]       true if the open file whose file
                         descriptor number is fildes (1 by
                         default) is associated with a terminal
                         device.

     file1 -nt file2     true if file1 is newer (has a greater
                         modification time) than file2.

     file1 -ot file2     true if file1 is older (has a smaller
                         modification time) than file2.

     -z s1               true if the length of string s1 is zero.

     -n s1               true if the length of the string s1 is
                         non-zero.

     s1 = s2             true if strings s1 and s2 are identical.

     s1 != s2            true if strings s1 and s2 are not ident-
                         ical.

     s1                  true if s1 is not the null string.

     n1 -eq n2           true if the integers n1 and n2 are alge-
                         braically equal.  Any of the comparisons
                         -ne, -gt, -ge, -lt, and -le may be used
                         in place of -eq.

     These primaries may be combined with the following opera-
     tors:

     !                   unary negation operator.

     -a                  binary and operator.

     -o                  binary or operator (-a has higher pre-
                         cedence than -o).

     ( expr )            parentheses for grouping.  Notice also
                         that parentheses are meaningful to the
                         shell and, therefore, must be quoted.

SEE ALSO
     find(1), sh(1).

WARNING
     If you test a file you own (the -r, -w, or -x tests), but
     the permission tested does not have the owner bit set, a
     non-zero (false) exit status will be returned even though
     the file may have the group or other bit set for that per-
     mission.  The correct exit status will be set if you are
     super-user.



 Page 2                  Printed 1/15/91



TEST(1-SysV)        RISC/os Reference Manual         TEST(1-SysV)



     The = and != operators have a higher precedence than the -r
     through -n operators, and = and != always expect arguments;
     therefore, = and != cannot be used with the -r through -n
     operators.

     If more than one argument follows the -r through -n opera-
     tors, only the first argument is examined; the others are
     ignored, unless a -a or a -o is the second argument.















































                         Printed 1/15/91                   Page 3

Museum

Related Articles