bash: test: no: integer expression expected [duplicate]

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This question already has an answer here:

Bash - Integer expression expected

2 answers

I believe this line

if test "$suman_inspect" -eq "yes"; then

is causing this error (verbatim):

bash: test: no: integer expression expected

I formulated the above test expression because I saw this example online:

 if test "$#" -eq "0"; then

where this test checks to see if the length of the arguments array is 0.

So is there something wrong with both these checks? I am not sure I understand how the first could be valid but the second one invalid.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 0:55

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, steeldriver, Thomas Dickey, Stephen Rauch, G-Man Nov 10 '17 at 2:02

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

Both test expressions in the question are invalid - to compare strings you need to use the == operator, not the -eq operator
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

This question already has an answer here:

Bash - Integer expression expected

2 answers

I believe this line

if test "$suman_inspect" -eq "yes"; then

is causing this error (verbatim):

bash: test: no: integer expression expected

I formulated the above test expression because I saw this example online:

 if test "$#" -eq "0"; then

where this test checks to see if the length of the arguments array is 0.

So is there something wrong with both these checks? I am not sure I understand how the first could be valid but the second one invalid.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 0:55

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, steeldriver, Thomas Dickey, Stephen Rauch, G-Man Nov 10 '17 at 2:02

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

Both test expressions in the question are invalid - to compare strings you need to use the == operator, not the -eq operator
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

This question already has an answer here:

Bash - Integer expression expected

2 answers

I believe this line

if test "$suman_inspect" -eq "yes"; then

is causing this error (verbatim):

bash: test: no: integer expression expected

I formulated the above test expression because I saw this example online:

 if test "$#" -eq "0"; then

where this test checks to see if the length of the arguments array is 0.

So is there something wrong with both these checks? I am not sure I understand how the first could be valid but the second one invalid.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 0:55

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

This question already has an answer here:

Bash - Integer expression expected

2 answers

I believe this line

if test "$suman_inspect" -eq "yes"; then

is causing this error (verbatim):

bash: test: no: integer expression expected

I formulated the above test expression because I saw this example online:

 if test "$#" -eq "0"; then

where this test checks to see if the length of the arguments array is 0.

So is there something wrong with both these checks? I am not sure I understand how the first could be valid but the second one invalid.

This question already has an answer here:

Bash - Integer expression expected

2 answers

edited Nov 10 '17 at 0:55

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

edited Nov 10 '17 at 0:55

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

asked Nov 10 '17 at 0:44

Alexander Mills

1,9441029

marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, steeldriver, Thomas Dickey, Stephen Rauch, G-Man Nov 10 '17 at 2:02

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, steeldriver, Thomas Dickey, Stephen Rauch, G-Man Nov 10 '17 at 2:02

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

Both test expressions in the question are invalid - to compare strings you need to use the == operator, not the -eq operator
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

add a commentÂ |Â

Both test expressions in the question are invalid - to compare strings you need to use the == operator, not the -eq operator
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

Both test expressions in the question are invalid - to compare strings you need to use the == operator, not the -eq operator
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

add a commentÂ |Â

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote

accepted

Note that -eq is for integer comparisons. For string comparisons, use == (or =). Thus, you should use the following:

if test "$suman_inspect" == "yes"; then
 # do something
fi

The same distinction applies for inequality operators (-gt, -lt, -ge, -le, and -ne being used for numerical comparisons, and >, <, >=, <=, and != being used for string comparisons).

Note that you can also use [ expression ] in place of test expression; the two are synonymous.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

add a commentÂ |Â

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote

accepted

Note that -eq is for integer comparisons. For string comparisons, use == (or =). Thus, you should use the following:

if test "$suman_inspect" == "yes"; then
 # do something
fi

Note that you can also use [ expression ] in place of test expression; the two are synonymous.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

accepted

Note that -eq is for integer comparisons. For string comparisons, use == (or =). Thus, you should use the following:

if test "$suman_inspect" == "yes"; then
 # do something
fi

Note that you can also use [ expression ] in place of test expression; the two are synonymous.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

accepted

Note that -eq is for integer comparisons. For string comparisons, use == (or =). Thus, you should use the following:

if test "$suman_inspect" == "yes"; then
 # do something
fi

Note that you can also use [ expression ] in place of test expression; the two are synonymous.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

Note that -eq is for integer comparisons. For string comparisons, use == (or =). Thus, you should use the following:

if test "$suman_inspect" == "yes"; then
 # do something
fi

Note that you can also use [ expression ] in place of test expression; the two are synonymous.

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

edited Nov 10 '17 at 1:04

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

answered Nov 10 '17 at 0:52

user001

1,47231936

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

add a commentÂ |Â

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

yeah it's a shame the -eq operator cannot compare two strings, as long as both arguments are already strings, oh well.
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 0:54

@Alexander Mills: I have long thought that eq, being a string, should be used for string comparisons, while =, being a mathematical symbol, should be used for numerical comparisons, but alas it's not the case.
â€“Â user001
Nov 10 '17 at 0:57

no language is perfect lol
â€“Â Alexander Mills
Nov 10 '17 at 1:03

@AlexanderMills String and integer comparisons are different, so it's important to have different symbols for them. For instance, [ 05 -eq 5 ] is true, but [ 05 = 5 ] is not -- they're different strings that represent the same integer. Also, [ 5 -lt 11 ] is true, but [ 5 '<' 11 ] is not, because 5 is less than 11 numerically, but comes after it "alphabetically" (i.e. in sorting order). BTW, = is preferred over == with test and [ ], for compatibility reasons.
â€“Â Gordon Davisson
Nov 10 '17 at 3:06

add a commentÂ |Â

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