Question

Im trying to write a file with the content of a variable, but if the file doesnt exist create it:

So far i got this:

echo "$Logstring" >> $fileLog

What im missing because when the file doesnt exist theres an error. Is an if condition necessary?

Answer 1

   #! /bin/bash
   VAR="something to put in a file"
   OUT=$1
   if [ ! -f "$OUT" ]; then
       mkdir -p "`dirname \"$OUT\"`" 2>/dev/null
   fi
   echo $VAR >> $OUT

   # the important step here is to make sure that the folder for the file exists
   # and create it if it does not. It will remain silent if the folder exists.

---

$ sh out hello/how/are/you/file.out
geee: ~/src/bash/moo
$ sh out hello/how/are/you/file.out
geee: ~/src/bash/moo
$ sh out another/file/lol.hmz
geee: ~/src/bash/moo
$ find . 
.
./out
./another
./another/file
./another/file/lol.hmz
./hello
./hello/how
./hello/how/are
./hello/how/are/you
./hello/how/are/you/file.out
geee: ~/src/bash/moo
$ cat ./hello/how/are/you/file.out
something to put in a file
something to put in a file
geee: ~/src/bash/moo
$ cat ./another/file/lol.hmz 
something to put in a file

---

the escaped ” for dirname are needed if the folder of file has spaces in the name.