Chapter 26. List Constructs

Chaining together commands

and list

1 command-1 && command-2 && command-3 && ... command-n

Each command executes in turn, provided that the previous command has given a return value of true (zero). At the first false (non-zero) return, the command chain terminates (the first command returning false is the last one to execute).

An interesting use of a two-condition and list from an early version of YongYe's Tetris game script:

1 equation() 2  3 { # core algorithm used for doubling and halving the coordinates 4  [[ ${cdx} ]] && ((y=cy+(ccy-cdy)${2}2)) 5  eval ${1}+=\"${x} ${y} \" 6 }

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Example 26-1. Using an and list to test for command-line arguments

1 #!/bin/bash 2 # and list 3  4 if [ ! -z "$1" ] && echo "Argument #1 = $1" && [ ! -z "$2" ] && \ 5 # ^^ ^^ ^^ 6 echo "Argument #2 = $2" 7 then 8  echo "At least 2 arguments passed to script." 9  # All the chained commands return true. 10 else 11  echo "Fewer than 2 arguments passed to script." 12  # At least one of the chained commands returns false. 13 fi 14 # Note that "if [ ! -z $1 ]" works, but its alleged equivalent, 15 # "if [ -n $1 ]" does not. 16 # However, quoting fixes this. 17 # if "[ -n "$1" ]" works. 18 # ^ ^ Careful! 19 # It is always best to QUOTE the variables being tested. 20  21  22 # This accomplishes the same thing, using "pure" if/then statements. 23 if [ ! -z "$1" ] 24 then 25  echo "Argument #1 = $1" 26 fi 27 if [ ! -z "$2" ] 28 then 29  echo "Argument #2 = $2" 30  echo "At least 2 arguments passed to script." 31 else 32  echo "Fewer than 2 arguments passed to script." 33 fi 34 # It's longer and more ponderous than using an "and list". 35  36  37 exit $?

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Example 26-2. Another command-line arg test using an and list

1 #!/bin/bash 2  3 ARGS=1 # Number of arguments expected. 4 E_BADARGS=85 # Exit value if incorrect number of args passed. 5  6 test $# -ne $ARGS && \ 7 # ^^^^^^^^^^^^ condition #1 8 echo "Usage: `basename $0` $ARGS argument(s)" && exit $E_BADARGS 9 # ^^ 10 # If condition #1 tests true (wrong number of args passed to script), 11 #+ then the rest of the line executes, and script terminates. 12  13 # Line below executes only if the above test fails. 14 echo "Correct number of arguments passed to this script." 15  16 exit 0 17  18 # To check exit value, do a "echo $?" after script termination.

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Of course, an and list can also set variables to a default value.

1 arg1=$@ && [ -z "$arg1" ] && arg1=DEFAULT 2  3  # Set $arg1 to command-line arguments, if any. 4  # But . . . set to DEFAULT if not specified on command-line.

or list

1 command-1 || command-2 || command-3 || ... command-n

Each command executes in turn for as long as the previous command returns false. At the first true return, the command chain terminates (the first command returning true is the last one to execute). This is obviously the inverse of the "and list".

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Example 26-3. Using or lists in combination with an and list

1 #!/bin/bash 2  3 # delete.sh, a not-so-cunning file deletion utility. 4 # Usage: delete filename 5  6 E_BADARGS=85 7  8 if [ -z "$1" ] 9 then 10  echo "Usage: `basename $0` filename" 11  exit $E_BADARGS # No arg? Bail out. 12 else 13  file=$1 # Set filename. 14 fi 15  16  17 [ ! -f "$file" ] && echo "File \"$file\" not found. \ 18 Cowardly refusing to delete a nonexistent file." 19 # AND LIST, to give error message if file not present. 20 # Note echo message continuing on to a second line after an escape. 21  22 [ ! -f "$file" ] || (rm -f $file; echo "File \"$file\" deleted.") 23 # OR LIST, to delete file if present. 24  25 # Note logic inversion above. 26 # AND LIST executes on true, OR LIST on false. 27  28 exit $?

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If the first command in an or list returns true, it will execute.