On Wed, 11 Dec 2002, dbrett wrote: > Nope, unless I missed what you trying to get at. > > #!/bin/bash > > if [$1 == '']; then > echo '' > echo "format is $0 'math equation'" > echo "i.e. $0 (2+2)*3" > echo '' > exit > fi > > echo $1 | /usr/bin/bc -l 2>&1 /dev/null > > Here is the output > ./math "2 + 3 *( 5 - 3 )" <---command > > ./math: [2: command not found > 8
ok, this is getting just plain silly. first, if you have a conditional test in a script, the "[" character *must* be delimited by white space. why? because it's a *command*. yes, that's right. if you don't believe me, try $ type [ this is actually comprehensible if you understand that the "if" construct in a shell script can test *only* the return code from commands, and that's it. hence the rationale for [ actually being a command. hence the absolute need for the surrounding whitespace. next issue. () are shell metacharacters -- they are used to surround one or more commands that are to be run inside a subshell. use them sparingly and wisely. but more to the point, what exactly are you trying to do here? i suspect this can all be done in about two lines. and i'm pretty sure i can figure out what those two lines are if i knew what you were after. rday -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
