Question

I have the below if statement. It gives me syntax error when I have both the csv file and the zip file in the folder. But it works when I have the csv file alone or the zip file alone or no files exist.

I’m not sure what causes the syntax error in the command below:

if [ -f ctf_error_report_??_????????????.csv -o -f ctf_error_report_??_????????????.???.zip ];
then
     echo  "Successful"
else
     echo  "Problem"
fi
exit 0

Any insight regarding this?

Answer 1

This is a dangerous way to check for files. If you happen to have more than one match in that directory then it won’t work because each file will become a separate parameter, which won’t match the syntax of the text. A better (although not foolproof) way to do it is like this:

set ctf_error_report_??_????????????.csv
csv_file=$1
set ctf_error_report_??_????????????.???.zip
zip_file=$1

if [ -f "$csv_file" -o -f "$zip_file" ]
then
  echo  "Successful"
else
  echo  "Problem"
fi