Shell Scripting; if statement outputting unexpected operator?

Question

I'm trying to write a shell script to delete 0kb files but the if statement keeps giving me errors, and i'm wondering if you can help me out

I have:

#!/bin/sh
EMPTY_FILE=$(find ${1-.} -size 0)
echo $EMPTY_FILE
echo "delete"
read text
if [ "$text" == "yes" ]; then echo yes; fi

error is

./deleteEmpty.sh: 6: [: yes: unexpected operator

Any help on whats wrong is useful! Thanks

This appears to work for me. That is, if I run that script, and type "yes", I get "yes" back. Is that not what you are expecting? — aghast
– aghast, Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 16:42
Hm.. it doesn't work for me. is there something i need to install/change for this to work? Edit: oh man, i used /sh instead of bash — user2874977
– user2874977, Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 16:45
You are the test command in which you should use = for string comparison instead of ==. If you are using bash, then == would be fine too. — P.P
– P.P, Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 16:46
If you do switch your shebang to bash, use read -p "delete? " text -- and pick a better variable name. — glenn jackman
– glenn jackman, Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 16:55

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:04:07Z

3

In plain sh the equality operator is =. == is a bashism. Either change your shebang line to #!/bin/bash, or change the test to:

if [ "$text" = "yes" ]; then echo yes; fi

#!/bin/bash

if [[ $text == yes ]]; then echo yes; fi

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jan 28, 2016 at 16:46

John Kugelman

365k70 gold badges555 silver badges600 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

ForceBru · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-28 16:41:58Z

0

Try to use double brackets:

if [[ "$text" == "yes" ]]; then echo yes; fi

answered Jan 28, 2016 at 16:41

ForceBru

45k10 gold badges71 silver badges104 bronze badges

gollum · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-28 16:43:56Z

0

I suppose you want to use bash. In that case the first line of your script should be

#!/bin/bash

answered Jan 28, 2016 at 16:43

gollum

2,6121 gold badge20 silver badges22 bronze badges