[ale] Q: Bash: test for existence of any file matching a glib pattern.

[Geoffrey]

Joe Knapka wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> A simple Bash question that google, the Bash FAQ, and the
> comp.unix.shell FAQ have failed to answer. (Possibly man bash would
> answer it, but I find I usually fall asleep before finding the
> particular tidbit I'm looking for in that horrendously gigantic
> manpage. Plus I expect there are folks on this list who do this
> kind of thing six times before breakfast.)
> 
> I need to do this:
> 
> if (any file matching *.h exists); then do something; fi

The above won't work as it will expand the *.h before the test and 
you'll get a syntax error.

Here's a quick possibilitie:

ls *.h >/dev/null 2>/dev/null && dothis

dothis will be executed if there are any files that match the pattern. 
Send stdout and stderr to /dev/null as you're not interested in any 
error or output.

-- 
Until later, Geoffrey       Registered Linux User #108567
                             AT&T Certified UNIX System Programmer - 1995