Bash script - Check if a file exists

Question

I need to check if a file with a specific extension exists and if it is not empty. The problem is that I don't know the name of the file, just the extension and the path.

Here my solution with an known name

FILE="/Users/test/my.out"
if [[ -f $FILE  &&  -s $FILE ]] ; then echo "EXIST"; fi

Using

FILE="/Users/test/*.out"

Do not work

What if you have multiple files that match that pattern? Try FILE=$(ls /Users/test/*.out) — RedX
– RedX, Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 9:10
The initial condition is that in this folder will be just one file .out — user3472065
– user3472065, Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 9:19

dogbane · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-04 09:14:51Z

4

I suggest you use an array, in case there are multiple files:

arr=( /Users/test/*.out )

if (( ${#arr[@]} > 0 )) && [[ -s "${arr[0]}" ]]
then
    ...
fi

answered Apr 4, 2014 at 9:14

dogbane

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Comments

Adrian Frühwirth · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-04 09:34:30Z

1

You can either use @dogbane's solution using an array or use a loop:

dir=/users/test
for file in "${dir}"/*.out; do
    break
done

if [ -f "${file}" ] && [ -s "${file}" ]; then
    echo "found a regular, non-empty .out file: ${file}"
fi

answered Apr 4, 2014 at 9:34

Adrian Frühwirth

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Comments

Harsh Daftary · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-04 10:40:12Z

-1

I think this should do:

if [ -f ${var} ]; then
   if [ -s ${var} ]; then
      echo  "Found $var"
   fi
fi

answered Apr 4, 2014 at 10:40

Harsh Daftary

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Comments

Mathias · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-14 10:06:42Z

-2

Try

FILE=$(ls "Downloads/*.zip" 2>/dev/null)

Only works, if there is only a single file.

edited Apr 14, 2014 at 10:06

answered Apr 4, 2014 at 9:11

Mathias

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3 Comments

user3472065 Over a year ago

This works, thanks! If I put in a while loop this check, if the file does not exist yet, an output "ls: /Users/test/*.out: No such file or directory" is displayed. Is there any way to avoid this output?

Mathias Over a year ago

See my edit, the 2>/dev/null suppresses the error. By the way, I guess this is a very bad hackjob...

Mathias Over a year ago

Thanks everyone for downvoting and telling the world your reasons. Some arguments against it can be found here..

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