Checking for multiple files with bash script

Question

I have a bash file where I am currently using an if statement to check for two files existing before continuing with the rest.

if [[ -e $flchck ]] && [[ -e $flchck2 ]]; then

--do stuff here

else

--sends me an email telling me the files were not found.

My question is, is this the most efficient way to do this? If I need it to check more files, would I just keep adding && to include more.

What if I want it to tell me which file(s) was missing when it did this check.

Any guidance/direction on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated.

Don't tag sh if you're going to use bash-only syntax (like [[) — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Oct 17, 2022 at 21:40
Anyhow -- you certainly can have an array of files and iterate through that array... if you're targeting bash; sh doesn't support arrays. — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Oct 17, 2022 at 21:41
sorry I didnt mean to tag sh, I am using bash for this. I will update acordingly — Sotark
– Sotark, Commented Oct 17, 2022 at 21:44

Charles Duffy · Accepted Answer · 2022-10-17 21:44:10Z

1

Typically one would use an array for this purpose. Assuming that your error-report-mailing code is encapsulated in a command named send_error_email, this may look like:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
files=( /path/to/file1 /path/to/file2 /path/to/file3 )
for file in "${files[@]}"; do
  if ! [[ -e $file ]]; then
    send_error_email "$file does not exist"
    exit 1
  fi
done
# do stuff here

answered Oct 17, 2022 at 21:44

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Charles Duffy

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2 Comments

Sotark Over a year ago

If I am understanding this correctly, it is going to cycle through all the files, and if it finds one that doesn't exist it exits out and sends me the email. if it gets through all without exiting it continues on?

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

The above summary is correct.

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