[6722] in Athena Bugs
rt 7.1H: sh, test man pages
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Dec 28 09:27:44 1990
From: sethf@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
To: bugs@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 28 Dec 90 09:27:32 EST
System name: frumious-bandersnatch
Type and version: RTPC-ROMPC 7.1H
Display type: apa16
What were you trying to do?
Understand the construction
if [ -f filename ]; then
found in many sh scripts
What's wrong:
Neither the sh nor the test man pages mention that test can be
called as '[', and when called as '[' test requires an argument of ']'.
The above looks like a shell built-in construction. It's
extremely confusing if you don't already know what it is.
What should have happened:
Maybe '[' should have a man page linked to test(1).
It would be nice if sh(1) mentioned the above construction.
test(1) should definitely mention that it can be called as '[',
requiring ']'.
Please describe any relevant documentation references:
sh(1), test(1)
