test - test
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONSNAME
[ − test
SYNOPSIS
test EXPRESSION
DESCRIPTION
Check file types and compare values.
test [ EXPRESSION ] [ ] [ OPTION ]
OPTIONS
−h, −−help
Print help
−V, −−version
Print version
Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.
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
String operations: − −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
Integer comparisons: − 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
File operations: − 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) − −N FILE FILE exists and has been modified since it was last read − −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 (follow) 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.
NOTE: Binary −a and −o are inherently ambiguous. Use test EXPR1 && test EXPR2 or test EXPR1 || test EXPR2 instead. NOTE: [ honors the −−help and −−version options, but test does not. test treats each of those as it treats any other nonempty STRING. NOTE: your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell’s documentation for details about the options it supports.