What do the BASH file test operators return when the path argument is an empty string? For example:
directory=""
# Something may or may not set "directory"
if [ -d "$directory" ]; then
# Do something...
fi
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2 Answers
You need to quote $directory:
if [ -d "$directory" ]; then
Otherwise, after expansion you are left with the equivalent of
if [ -d ]; then
which is equivalent to if [ -n "-d" ]; then, and so is always true. (-d is a non-empty string.)
Comments
In your example, the statement will yield the following test:
if [ -d ]; then
...
fi
Which will not test what you wish to.
What is the accepted practice to prevent such error is to encase the variable in double quotes like this:
if [ -d "$directory" ]; then
...
fi
