man/cat1/test.1.txt

TEST(1) User Commands TEST(1)
 
 
 
 
 
NAME
       test - check file types and compare values
 
SYNOPSIS
       test EXPRESSION
       test
 
       [ EXPRESSION ]
       [ ]
       [ OPTION
 
DESCRIPTION
       Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.
 
       --help display this help and exit
 
       --version
              output version information and exit
 
       An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false. Otherwise,
       EXPRESSION is true or false and sets exit status. It is
       one of:
 
       ( EXPRESSION )
              EXPRESSION is true
 
       ! EXPRESSION
              EXPRESSION is false
 
       EXPRESSION1 -a EXPRESSION2
              both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true
 
       EXPRESSION1 -o EXPRESSION2
              either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true
 
       -n STRING
              the length of STRING is nonzero
 
       STRING equivalent to -n STRING
 
       -z STRING
              the length of STRING is zero
 
       STRING1 = STRING2
              the strings are equal
 
       STRING1 != STRING2
              the strings are not equal
 
       INTEGER1 -eq INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2
 
       INTEGER1 -ge INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2
 
       INTEGER1 -gt INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2
 
       INTEGER1 -le INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2
 
       INTEGER1 -lt INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2
 
       INTEGER1 -ne INTEGER2
              INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2
 
       FILE1 -ef FILE2
              FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode
              numbers
 
       FILE1 -nt FILE2
              FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2
 
       FILE1 -ot FILE2
              FILE1 is older than FILE2
 
       -b FILE
              FILE exists and is block special
 
       -c FILE
              FILE exists and is character special
 
       -d FILE
              FILE exists and is a directory
 
       -e FILE
              FILE exists
 
       -f FILE
              FILE exists and is a regular file
 
       -g FILE
              FILE exists and is set-group-ID
 
       -G FILE
              FILE exists and is owned by the effective group
              ID
 
       -h FILE
              FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L)
 
       -k FILE
              FILE exists and has its sticky bit set
 
       -L FILE
              FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -h)
 
       -O FILE
              FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID
 
       -p FILE
              FILE exists and is a named pipe
 
       -r FILE
              FILE exists and read permission is granted
 
       -s FILE
              FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
 
       -S FILE
              FILE exists and is a socket
 
       -t FD file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal
 
       -u FILE
              FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set
 
       -w FILE
              FILE exists and write permission is granted
 
       -x FILE
              FILE exists and execute (or search) permission is
              granted
 
       Except for -h and -L, all FILE-related tests dereference
       symbolic links. Beware that parentheses need to be
       escaped (e.g., by backslashes) for shells. INTEGER may
       also be -l STRING, which evaluates to the length of
       STRING.
 
AUTHOR
       Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.
 
REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
 
COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying condi-
       tions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABIL-
       ITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 
SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for test is maintained as a Tex-
       info manual. If the info and test programs are properly
       installed at your site, the command
 
              info test
 
       should give you access to the complete manual.
 
 
 
test 5.3.0 November 2004 TEST(1)