Very Computer

Hi.

I have several ksh scripts with lines like:

if ! TestCommand ; then
        blah,blah
fi

which doesn't work on some older systems.  Is
there any general way to re-produce the negation
effect of the bang?  I of course could do:

if TestCommand ; then
   echo "Going to next step"
else
   blah, blah
fi

but that's too ugly.

Any tips appreciated.

Paul

--
Paul Kirkaas

Hi.

[snip]
:which doesn't work on some older systems.  Is
:there any general way to re-produce the negation
:effect of the bang?  I of course could do:
:
:if TestCommand ; then
:   echo "Going to next step"
:else
:   blah, blah
:fi
:
:but that's too ugly.
:
:Any tips appreciated.

You can use the || and && construction:

if foo; then
        bar1            ==      foo && ( bar1; bar2; ... )
        bar2
        ...
fi

if ! foo; then
then
        bar1            ==      foo || ( bar1; bar2; ... )
        bar2
        ...
fi
:
:Paul
Marc

...
| You can use the || and && construction:
...
| if ! foo; then
| then
|       bar1            ==      foo || ( bar1; bar2; ... )
|       bar2
|       ...
| fi

Pretty close, but the parentheses will cause the shell to fork a
subprocess, which is not only unnecessarily expensive but also changes
the semantics with respect to variables inside the block.

Use { } to get the block without the subprocess.  Don't forget to white-space
separate them and include a line terminator at the end - { echo like this; }
{echo not like this}.  Because stuff like that makes me cranky, I prefer

if foo
then :
else
        bar1
        ..
fi

And of course, if you have strings to compare, use "case", that's what
it's for.

        Donn Cave, University Computing Services, University of Washington

-------
Today's Fun Spelling Tip:

   It's vs. its ... ever wonder whether you're getting it right?
   Try he's vs. his, which follows the exact same rules.

Paul

--
Paul Kirkaas