Bash syntax for if thens

Question

Having trouble trying to run this from bash :

[root@bryanserver ~]# $SPACER="#-------#" APACHE_ENABLED=`ls -1 "$HTTPD_HOSTS-EN" | grep ".conf" | sed s/.conf//` APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -1` if [ -n "$APACHE_ENABLED" ]; then echo $SPACER echo "Apache enabled Sites: $APACHE_COUNT" echo "$APACHE_ENABLED" else echo $SPACER echo "There are no detectable nor delectable WebSites In Sight Blackbeard" fi
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `then

Is the problem with the code per se or with trying to use it from the shell rather than having it in a file and sourcing the file?

Entering this on the command line in Bash :

APACHE_ENABLED=`"$HTTPD_HOSTS_EN" | grep ".conf" | sed s/.conf//`
APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -l`
if [ -n "$APACHE_ENABLED" ]; then
 echo $SPACER
 echo "Apache Enabled Sites: $APACHE_COUNT"
 echo "$APACHE_ENABLED" 
else
 echo $SPACER
 echo "There are no detected Apache Enabled Sites"
fi

produces this output:
APACHE_ENABLED=`"$HTTPD_HOSTS_EN" | grep ".conf" | sed s/.conf//`
APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -l`
-bash: : command not found
[root@bryanserver ~]# APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -l`
[root@bryanserver ~]# if [ -n "$APACHE_ENABLED" ]; then
>  echo $SPACER
>  echo "Apache Enabled Sites: $APACHE_COUNT"
>  echo "$APACHE_ENABLED"
> else
>  echo $SPACER
>  echo "There are no detected Apache Enabled Sites"
> fi  #

and hit enter and voila! this is the result: There are no detected Apache Enabled Sites [root@bryanserver ~]# and Bash is ready to do more work.

So, yes as Keith pointed out, I had mistaken an ell for a 1, and there are still some quirks, but it executes and issues a report. That's progress.

I am working here with some material from Charles Smith; he shared some scripts on GitHub; github.com/twohlix/HostingScripts/blob/master/listwww.

But I was using NotePad, and after editing some things, when I would put the text on the clipboard and unload it in Bash, what was I believe happening was I was getting the EOF issues. This SO question gave me an idea: bash EOF in if statement I used View / Show Line Endings in NotePad2, and copied my code, then pasted it into Bash, that worked.

I think you mean SPACER= not $SPACER= at the beginning of the line. Also, you need either newlines or semicolons to seperate commands in your if statement. — larsks
– larsks, Commented Aug 10, 2012 at 20:57
...and this would probably be easier to debug if you first tried it using multiple lines. — larsks
– larsks, Commented Aug 10, 2012 at 20:58
Once you fix the syntax error(s), I think you'll find you want wc -l (lowercase letter ell) rather than wc -1 (digit one). — Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson, Commented Aug 10, 2012 at 21:09

Keith Thompson · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-10 21:08:07Z

2

Things I see:

declaration of $SPACER shouldn't have the dollar sign
add semicolons ; between declarative statements

I think this is what you mean in a multi-line statement:

SPACER="#-------#"
APACHE_ENABLED=`ls -1 "$HTTPD_HOSTS-EN" | grep ".conf" | sed s/.conf//`
APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -1`
if [ -n "$APACHE_ENABLED" ]; then 
    echo $SPACER;
    echo "Apache enabled Sites: $APACHE_COUNT";
    echo "$APACHE_ENABLED";
else 
    echo $SPACER;
    echo "There are no detectable nor delectable WebSites In Sight Blackbeard";
fi

In one line then, remember to add semicolons or the double ampersand && to separate statements:

SPACER="#-------#"; APACHE_ENABLED=`ls -1 "$HTTPD_HOSTS-EN" | grep ".conf" | sed s/.conf//`; APACHE_COUNT=`echo -e "$APACHE_ENABLED" | wc -1`; if [ -n "$APACHE_ENABLED" ]; then echo $SPACER; echo "Apache enabled Sites: $APACHE_COUNT"; echo "$APACHE_ENABLED"; else echo $SPACER; echo "There are no detectable nor delectable WebSites In Sight Blackbeard"; fi

edited Aug 10, 2012 at 21:08

Keith Thompson

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answered Aug 10, 2012 at 20:59

mzhang

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3 Comments

MountainMan Over a year ago

@Keith many thanks. as things turned out the problem was concerning the attempt to type in manually in bash what was meant to be a file, executed with command [ source filename ]. I have added some info which may be useful to others.

Keith Thompson Over a year ago

@MountainMan: You're thanking me for mzhang's answer; all I did was clean up the formatting.

MountainMan Over a year ago

@mzhang he's right, my bad. Thanks for getting the ball rolling :)

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