Bash Scripting – Using Conditional ‘or’ in an ‘if’ Statement

bashshell-script

This question is a sequel of sorts to my earlier question. The users on this site kindly helped me determine how to write a bash for loop that iterates over string values. For example, suppose that a loop control variable fname iterates over the strings "a.txt" "b.txt" "c.txt". I would like to echo "yes!" when fname has the value "a.txt" or "c.txt", and echo "no!" otherwise. I have tried the following bash shell script:

#!/bin/bash

for fname in "a.txt" "b.txt" "c.txt"
do
  echo $fname
  if [ "$fname" = "a.txt" ] | [ "$fname" = "c.txt" ]; then
    echo "yes!"
  else
    echo "no!"
  fi
done

I obtain the output:

a.txt

no!

b.txt

no!

c.txt

yes!

Why does the if statement apparently yield true when fname has the value "a.txt"? Have I used | incorrectly?

Best Answer

If you want to say OR use double pipe (||).

if [ "$fname" = "a.txt" ] || [ "$fname" = "c.txt" ]

(The original OP code using | was simply piping the output of the left side to the right side, in the same way any ordinary pipe works.)

After many years of comments and misunderstanding, allow me to clarify.

To do OR you use ||.

Whether you use [ or [[ or test or (( all depends on what you need on a case by case basis. It's wrong to say that one of those is preferred in all cases. Sometimes [ is right and [[ is wrong. But that's not what the question was. OP asked why | didn't work. The answer is because it should be || instead.

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