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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-23T17:36:42+00:00

Why does this fragment of shell script give an error in a Makefile? -@for

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Why does this fragment of shell script give an error in a Makefile?

-@for file in `cat export_mojave_tcl_files.list`; do \
if { [ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file]} ; \
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if {! [ -s $$file.diff ]}; \
then rm -f $$file.diff ; \
else echo $$file >> marker.fill.tcl.diff; \
fi \
elif {[ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file] && ! [ -f $$file]} ; \
then echo $$file >> gold_exists; \
else echo $$file >> test_exists; \
fi; \
done ;

Error

/bin/sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `then'
/bin/sh: -c: line 1: `for file in `cat export_mojave_tcl_files.list`; do  if { [ -f ../GOLD/$file ] && [-f $file] } ;  then diff $file bk_marker > $file.diff ;  if ! [ -s $file.diff ]};  then rm -f $file.diff ;  else echo $file >> marker.fill.tcl.diff;  fi  elif { [ -f ../GOLD/$file] && ! [ -f $file] } ;  then echo $file >> gold_exists;  else echo $file >> test_exists;  fi;  done ;'
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You need to be careful with spaces around the braces, and semi-colons before close braces..

    if { [ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file]} ; \
                                              ^ here!
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if {! [ -s $$file.diff ]}; \
    ^ here!             ^ here!

    In an orthodox shell derived from the Bourne shell (where bash shares the same views on the subject), you need to write:

    if { [ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file] ; } ; \
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if { ! [ -s $$file.diff ] ; }; \

    The semi-colons before the close brace are necessary for the shell to recognize the close brace as the end of an I/O redirection unit. Of course, since there is no I/O redirection, it is all somewhat hypothetical. I believe you’d get the same effect from:

    if [ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file] ; \
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if ! [ -s $$file.diff ]; \

    with no braces at all. I’ve seen worse abuses, such as:

    if ( [ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file]) ; \
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if (! [ -s $$file.diff ]); \

    This runs the tests in sub-shells, for no good reason. And, even worse, I’ve seen:

    if ( `[ -f $(TEST_PATH)/$$file ] && [-f $$file]`) ; \
then diff $$file bk_marker > $$file.diff ; \
if (! `[ -s $$file.diff ]`); \

    Fortunately, the test command does produce any output so the back-ticks don’t have anything to execute, but it is an appalling waste of processes.

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