TEST(1) 			 User Commands			       TEST(1)



NAME
       test - check file types and compare values

SYNOPSIS
       test EXPRESSION
       test

       [ EXPRESSION ]
       [ ]
       [ OPTION

DESCRIPTION
       Exit with the status determined by EXPRESSION.

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
	      output version information and exit

       An omitted EXPRESSION defaults to false.  Otherwise, EXPRESSION is true
       or false and sets exit status.  It is one of:

       ( EXPRESSION )
	      EXPRESSION is true

       ! EXPRESSION
	      EXPRESSION is false

       EXPRESSION1 -a EXPRESSION2
	      both EXPRESSION1 and EXPRESSION2 are true

       EXPRESSION1 -o EXPRESSION2
	      either EXPRESSION1 or EXPRESSION2 is true

       -n STRING
	      the length of STRING is nonzero

       STRING equivalent to -n STRING

       -z STRING
	      the length of STRING is zero

       STRING1 = STRING2
	      the strings are equal

       STRING1 != STRING2
	      the strings are not equal

       INTEGER1 -eq INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is equal to INTEGER2

       INTEGER1 -ge INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is greater than or equal to INTEGER2

       INTEGER1 -gt INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is greater than INTEGER2

       INTEGER1 -le INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is less than or equal to INTEGER2

       INTEGER1 -lt INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is less than INTEGER2

       INTEGER1 -ne INTEGER2
	      INTEGER1 is not equal to INTEGER2

       FILE1 -ef FILE2
	      FILE1 and FILE2 have the same device and inode numbers

       FILE1 -nt FILE2
	      FILE1 is newer (modification date) than FILE2

       FILE1 -ot FILE2
	      FILE1 is older than FILE2

       -b FILE
	      FILE exists and is block special

       -c FILE
	      FILE exists and is character special

       -d FILE
	      FILE exists and is a directory

       -e FILE
	      FILE exists

       -f FILE
	      FILE exists and is a regular file

       -g FILE
	      FILE exists and is set-group-ID

       -G FILE
	      FILE exists and is owned by the effective group ID

       -h FILE
	      FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -L)

       -k FILE
	      FILE exists and has its sticky bit set

       -L FILE
	      FILE exists and is a symbolic link (same as -h)

       -O FILE
	      FILE exists and is owned by the effective user ID

       -p FILE
	      FILE exists and is a named pipe

       -r FILE
	      FILE exists and read permission is granted

       -s FILE
	      FILE exists and has a size greater than zero

       -S FILE
	      FILE exists and is a socket

       -t FD  file descriptor FD is opened on a terminal

       -u FILE
	      FILE exists and its set-user-ID bit is set

       -w FILE
	      FILE exists and write permission is granted

       -x FILE
	      FILE exists and execute (or search) permission is granted

       Except for -h and  -L,  all  FILE-related  tests  dereference  symbolic
       links.	Beware	that  parentheses  need  to be escaped (e.g., by back
       slashes) for shells.  INTEGER may also be -l STRING, which evaluates to
       the length of STRING.

       NOTE:  your shell may have its own version of test and/or [, which usu
       ally supersedes the version  described  here.   Please  refer  to  your
       shells documentation for details about the options it supports.

AUTHOR
       Written by Kevin Braunsdorf and Matthew Bradburn.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to .

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This  is  free  software.   You may redistribute copies of it under the
       terms	  of	  the	   GNU	    General	  Public       License
       .	 There	is NO WARRANTY, to the
       extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for test is maintained as a Texinfo manual.   If
       the  info  and  test  programs are properly installed at your site, the
       command

	      info test

       should give you access to the complete manual.



test 5.97			 January 2007			       TEST(1)