test - Unix, Linux Command


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NAME

test - check file types and compare values

SYNOPSIS

test EXPRESSION
test

[ EXPRESSION ]
[ ]
[ OPTION

DESCRIPTION

Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.

TagDescription
--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.

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.

AUTHOR

Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

test is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and test programs are properly installed at your site, the command
TagDescription
info test
should give you access to the complete manual.
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