test
evaluate expression
TLDR
Test if a given variable is equal to a given string
Test if a given variable is empty
Test if a file exists
Test if a directory does not exist
If A is true, then do B, or C in the case of an error (notice that C may run even if A fails)
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)
- -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 the user has read access
- -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 the user has write access
- -x FILE
-
FILE exists and the user has execute (or search) access
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.
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.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to
<https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There
is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
access(2) Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/test> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) test invocation'
AUTHOR
Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.
