BASH: Checking for environment variables
- by Hamza
Hi folks,
I am trying to check the value of an environment variable and depending on the value do certain things and it works fine as long as the variable is set. When it isn't though I get a whole bunch of errors (as BASH is trying to compare the string I specify with an undefined variable, I guess)
I tried implementing an extra check to prevent it happening but no luck. The block of code I am using is:
#!/bin/bash
if [ -n $TESTVAR ]
then
if [ $TESTVAR == "x" ]
then
echo "foo"
exit
elif [ $TESTVAR == "y" ]
then
echo "bar"
exit
else
echo "baz"
exit
fi
else
echo -e "TESTVAR not set\n"
fi
And this the output:
$ export TESTVAR=x
$ ./testenv.sh
foo
$ export TESTVAR=y
$ ./testenv.sh
bar
$ export TESTVAR=q
$ ./testenv.sh
baz
$ unset TESTVAR
$ ./testenv.sh
./testenv.sh: line 5: [: ==: unary operator expected
./testenv.sh: line 9: [: ==: unary operator expected
baz
My question is, shouldn't 'unset TESTVAR' nullify it? It doesn't seem to be the case...
Thanks.
