Bash does not allow if statement inside case statement

Question

Can someone help me find out what I am doing wrong on this bash script. I am trying to using if statement inside case statement and bash is complaining syntax error.

findinfo() {
OPT1=$1
case  "$OPT1" in
   linux)
        echo "Setting environment"
        ESC="hello_linux" if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" ||  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
        ;;
   Windows)
        echo "Setting environment"
        ESC="hello_windows" if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" ||  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
        ;;
   Android)
        echo "Setting environment"
        ESC="hello_android" if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" ||  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
        ;;
esac

}

Thanks

It has nothing to do with the case.

Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson

2013-07-30 14:33:19 +00:00
Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 14:33 — Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson, Commented Jul 30, 2013 at 14:33

Telemachus · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-30 14:47:33Z

11

In bash, if must precede the then part:

if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" ||  "$PROJN" == "two" ]] ; then ESC=hello_linux ; fi

The "postfix" if is possible in Perl (and maybe somewhere else, too), but not in bash.

edited Jul 30, 2013 at 14:47

Telemachus

19.8k7 gold badges60 silver badges83 bronze badges

answered Jul 30, 2013 at 14:31

choroba

245k27 gold badges221 silver badges304 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

Needs to be ESC=hello_linux, not ESC = hello_linux; the whitespace makes this a command ESC with two arguments, = and hello_linux.

Charles Duffy · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-30 17:18:14Z

8

The following syntax is a terser alternative:

[[ $PROJN = ONE || $PROJN = TWO ]] && ESC=hello_linux

...and the following is still shorter, and compliant with older shells:

case $PROJN in ONE|TWO) ESC=hello_linux ;; esac

edited Jul 30, 2013 at 17:18

answered Jul 30, 2013 at 14:42

Charles Duffy

299k43 gold badges441 silver badges497 bronze badges

1 Comment

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

@devnull No, I really don't. Better to quote when it isn't needed than not to quote when it is needed, though.

David W. · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-30 14:42:30Z

1

There's no problem using an if inside a case statement. It's that your if statements are a wee bit incorrect.

You had your if statement on the same line as your $ESC assignment. Doesn't work outside of a case doesn't work inside. Also, you need to use -o for the or in your if statements, and you need AT LEAST one line to execute if your if statement is true. (I just put an echo as a place holder).

It could be that this particular if statement should be outside of your case. I notice that they're all the same. No need to duplicate code in that case, just put your if after the esac.

By the way: You can do an or inside of an if in either one of these two ways:

if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" -o  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]

or

if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" ]] || [[  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]

And now back your regularly scheduled program...

findinfo() {
    OPT1=$1
    case  "$OPT1" in
       linux)
            echo "Setting environment"
            ESC="hello_linux" 
            if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" -o  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
            then
                 echo "Here be dragons..."
            fi
            ;;
       Windows)
            echo "Setting environment"
            ESC="hello_windows" 
            if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" -o  "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
            then
                 echo "Here be dragons..."
            fi
            ;;
       Android)
            echo "Setting environment"
            ESC="hello_android" 
            if [[ "$PROJN" == "ONE" -o "$PROJN" == "two" ]]
            then
                 echo "Here be dragons..."
            fi
            ;;
    esac
}

answered Jul 30, 2013 at 14:42

David W.

107k40 gold badges224 silver badges349 bronze badges

3 Comments

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

Use of -o inside of [[ ]] is wrong; it should be the || operator.

chepner Over a year ago

To expand on Charles' comment, -o is also deprecated inside [ ]. In that case, you would use [ ] || [ ] instead (two separate test commands).

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

[[ '' -o true ]] is not "one of two ways", it's just (in bash) outright broken / entirely unsupported (at least in bash 3.2.57, as shipped by Apple; I haven't tested with all other extant releases). Try it: -bash: syntax error near `-o'. Which shell were you testing with which didn't throw such an error?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Bash does not allow if statement inside case statement

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

1 Comment

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

1 Comment

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related