Bash: testing if executed command was succesfull

Question

I have the following script:

if [ `mysql -u root -p < test.sql` ]; then
    echo "success"
else
    echo "some error"
fi

How can I check in the if if the command went well or there was some sql error?

I think just if mysql -u root -p < test.sql ; then would do it. You don't want the back ticks unless you want the if to test the output of mysql. To check for success, assuming mysql follows convention, you want the return value of mysql. — lurker
– lurker, Commented May 20, 2014 at 17:28

devnull · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-20 17:28:06Z

4

You don't need the test command, i.e. [ here.

Assuming that mysql produces a non-zero exit code in case of failure and 0 on success, then you can say:

if mysql -u root -p < test.sql; then
    echo "success"
else
    echo "some error"
fi

answered May 20, 2014 at 17:28

devnull

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Comments

whereswalden · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-21 21:53:58Z

0

Another way this is typically done is with the "&&" and "||" separators. For example:

mysql -u root -p < test.sql && echo "success" || echo "some error"

If the mysql command exits with status 0, then "success" will be printed. If it doesn't, "some error" will be printed.

answered May 21, 2014 at 21:53

whereswalden

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