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Joachim Ansorg edited this page Nov 12, 2021 · 4 revisions

Can't have empty then clauses (use true as a no-op).

Problematic code:

if [ -e foo ]
then
  # TODO: handle this
fi

Correct code:

if [ -e foo ]
then
  # TODO: handle this
  true
fi

# Or use the no-op colon operator ":"
if [ -e foo ]
then
  # TODO: handle this
  :
fi

Rationale:

Shells do not allow empty then clauses. They need at least one command (and comments are not commands).

If you want a then clause that does nothing, use a dummy command like true.

Exceptions:

None.

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