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TEST (1)

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test - condition command

CONTENTS

Synopsis
Description

test [expr]

test evaluates the expression expr, and if its value is true then returns zero exit status; otherwise, a non zero exit status is returned. test returns a non zero exit if there are no arguments.

The following primitives are used to construct expr:

-r file	true if the file exists and is readable.
-w file	true if the file exists and is writable.
-u file	true if the file exists and has the setuid bit set.
-g file	true if the file exists and has the setgid bit set.
-k file	true if the file exists and has the sticky bit set.
-f file	true if the file exists and is a regular file.
-d file	true if the file exists and is a directory.
-h file	true if the file exists and is a symbolic link.
-L file	true if the file exists and is a symbolic link.
-p file	true if the file exists and is a named pipe.
-b file	true if the file exists and is a block device.
-c file	true if the file exists and is a character device.
-S file	true if the file exists and is a socket (/usr/5bin/posix/test and /usr/5bin/posix2001/test only).
-e file	true if the file exists (/usr/5bin/posix/test and /usr/5bin/posix2001/test only).
-s file	true if the file exists and has a size greater than zero.
-t [fildes]	true if the open file whose file descriptor number is fildes (1 by default) is associated with a terminal device.
-z s1	true if the length of string s1 is zero.
-n s1	true if the length of the string s1 is nonzero.
s1 = s2	true if the strings s1 and s2 are equal.
s1 != s2	true if the strings s1 and s2 are not equal.
s1	true if s1 is not the null string.
n1 -eq n2	true if the integers n1 and n2 are algebraically equal. Any of the comparisons -ne, -gt, -ge, -lt, or -le may be used in place of -eq.
These primaries may be combined with the following operators:
!	unary negation operator
-a	binary and operator
-o	binary or operator
( expr )	parentheses for grouping.

-a has higher precedence than -o. Notice that all the operators and flags are separate arguments to test. Notice also that parentheses are meaningful as command separators and must be escaped.