Bash Scripting Empty file

john8675309 · 12-24-2004, 08:11 PM

How can I detect if a file is empty using bash?

--John

bulliver · 12-24-2004, 08:18 PM

Code:

if [ ! -s $file ]
    print "$file is empty"
else
    print "$file has content"
fi

fvu · 08-08-2007, 04:05 PM

1. `then' is missing
2. `print' should be `echo':

Code:

file=/etc/passwd
if [ ! -s $file ]; then
    echo "$file is empty"
else
    echo "$file has content"
fi

You can even use a one-liner:

Code:

file=/etc/passwd
[ -s $file ] && echo "$file has content" || echo "$file is empty"