[plug] How to check for an empty string in a bash script.

[John Summerfield]

> Hi all, 
> 
> I have the following code in a bash script that I am writing...
> 
> if [ THE_PATH="" ]; then
> 	echo "The Path is:" $THE_PATH
> 	echo "FAIL! FILE DOES NOT EXIST."	
> fi
> 
> In another part of the script, the variable "THE_PATH" is populated with a
> filename that is the result of a search of the filesystem.  If the file was
> not found that value should be empty.  However, when I run this code, it is
> printing out the filename for which I searched (indicating that the variable
> "THE_PATH" is NOT empty, yet still it is making into the TRUE part of this
> if statement and subsequently echoing "FAIL! FILE DOES NOT EXIST."
> 
> My question:  How does one check a variable in a bash script to see if it is
> empty?

help test

if [ -z "$VAR" ] ; then

Note the spaces. bash is VERY touchy.
 

-- 
Cheers
John Summerfield
http://os2.ami.com.au/os2/ for OS/2 support.
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