NAME

ftest, newer - test file attributes

SYNOPSIS

ftest test arg

newer file1 file2

DESCRIPTION

Ftest checks the specified attribute of arg according to test and yields an exit status signifying the result. For all tests apart from -t, arg is the name of the file to be tested; for -t, it is the number of a file descriptor. Available tests are:

-d

True if the file exists and is a directory.

-e

True if the file exists.

-f

True if the file exists and is a regular file.

-r

True if the file exists and is readable.

-s

True if the file exists and has non-zero size.

-t

True if the open file represented by the number arg represents the same file as /dev/cons.

-w

True if the file exists and is writable.

-x

True if the file exists and is executable.

Newer checks whether file1 exists and is no older than file2, which must also exist; if so, it yields a true exit status. Otherwise, it yields an error status. Neither file may be a directory.

SOURCE

/appl/cmd/ftest.b
/appl/cmd/newer.b

SEE ALSO

sys-stat (2)

BUGS

These commands work only with sh (1) as none of the other Inferno shells can check the exit status of a command.

Checking for read, write and execute capabilities is speculative - the file server has the last say. Group permissions are ignored.