Shell script file, checks if text file is empty or not

Question

I want to check if .todo.txt is empty or not. If is is empty, I want to add the echo in the file, and if it already has content, I want to do something else.

I tried:

hasData()
{
    echo "Hello"
}

isEmpty()
{
    echo -e "$n\t$comment\t$dueD/$dueM/$dueY " >> .todo.txt   
}

if [ -s $file ] ; then
    hasData()
else
    isEmpty()
fi

When I run above code, I get the following:

./todo.sh: line 25: syntax error near unexpected token `else'
./todo.sh: line 25: `   else'

John Bollinger · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-16 17:36:48Z

3

when i run my code i get the following ./todo.sh: line 25: syntax error near unexpected token else' ./todo.sh: line 25: else'

You must use parentheses to define a shell function, but they have no part in calling one. A shell function is invoked just like any other command:

if [ -s $file ] ; then
    hasData
else
    isEmpty
fi

If your functions took arguments, then you would list them after the function name -- again, just like for any other command.

answered Jun 16, 2015 at 17:36

John Bollinger

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