NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       test - check file types and compare values

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       test EXPRESSION
       [ EXPRESSION ]
       test OPTION

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
	      output version information and exit

       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

       -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

       -h FILE
	      FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L)

       -G FILE
	      FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID

       -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 is readable

       -s FILE
	      FILE exists and has a size greater than zero

       -S FILE
	      FILE exists and is a socket

       -t [FD]
	      file descriptor FD (stdout by default) is opened on a terminal

       -u FILE
	      FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set

       -w FILE
	      FILE exists and is writable

       -x FILE
	      FILE exists and is executable

       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    [Toc]    [Back]

       Written by FIXME: ksb and mjb.

REPORTING BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Report bugs to <[email protected]>.

COPYRIGHT    [Toc]    [Back]

       Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is
       NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR  A  PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  full documentation for test is maintained as a Texinfo 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.



GNU sh-utils 2.0.11		   July 2001			       TEST(1)