[Appendix B] B.4 Test Operators
Author: Bill Rosenblatt
Date: 1998-08-03T21:18:51Z

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| Appendix B Reference Lists |

## B.4 Test Operators

These are the operators that are used with the [[...]] construct. They can be logically combined with && ("and") and || ("or") and grouped with parenthesis.

Operator | True If...
--- | ---
-a file | file exists.
-b file | file is a block device file.
-c file | file is a character device file.
-d file | file is a directory.
-f file | file is a regular file.
-g file | file has its setgid bit set.
-k file | file has its sticky bit set.
-n string | string is non-null.
-o option | option is set.
-p file | file is a pipe or named pipe (FIFO file).
-r file | file is readable.
-s file | file is not empty.
-t N | File descriptor N points to a terminal.
-u file | file has its setuid bit set.
-w file | file is writeable.
-x file | file is executable, or file is a directory that can be searched.
-z string | string is null.
-G file | file's group ID is the same as that of the shell.
-L file | file is a symbolic link.
-O file | file is owned by the shell's user ID.
-S file | file is a socket.
fileA -nt fileB | fileA is newer than fileB.
fileA -ot fileB | fileA is older than fileB.
fileA -ef fileB | fileA and fileB point to the same file.
string = pattern | string matches pattern (which can contain wildcards).
string != pattern | string does not match pattern.
stringA < stringB | stringA comes before stringB in dictionary order.
stringA > stringB | stringA comes after stringB in dictionary order.
exprA -eq exprB | Arithmetic expressions exprA and exprB are equal.
exprA -ne exprB | Arithmetic expressions exprA and exprB are not equal.
exprA -lt exprB | exprA is less than exprB.
exprA -gt exprB | exprA is greater than exprB.
exprA -le exprB | exprA is less than or equal to exprB.
exprA -ge exprB | exprA is greater than or equal to exprB.

B.3 Built-in Shell Variables |  | B.5 Options