understand variable type in shell script
 

hi guru,

in shell script i have got a variable and i want to search the type of this variable. i don't know the value is numeric or string and i am looking for a utility,function or command that return the type of the variable.

For example A=123 or A=abc. and i want to search that does A store a numeric value or sting value?

thanks in advance.

With ksh or bash, "typeset -p" will show the variable type, if any.

thanks jlliagre

but "typeset -p" shows the variables and their values in my solaris.
but my main problem is the type of the variable. is it numeric or string. i just want to learn the variable is numeric or string. i don't interest its value.

Nope, Solaris (I assume you really mean ksh on Solaris) shows the type of the variable, should it have a type. eg:
Here RANDOM is of type integer, but the shell, being loosely typed, doesn't mandates a variable to have a type, in which case it is a string by default.

You could try:
A_Num=expr {$A+"0"}
if [ A_Num -eq A ] and so on ..

End

Thanks,
it's a nice idea. :) and it sounds good..