Subject: bug#9211: closed (Re: bug#9211: test -l)

From: [email-masked] (GNU bug Tracking System)
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:23:03 +0000

Your bug report

#9211: test -l

which was filed against the coreutils package, has been closed.

The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
If you require more details, please reply to [email-masked].

-- 
9211: http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=9211
GNU Bug Tracking System
Contact [email-masked] with problems

Subject: Re: bug#9211: test -l
From: Bob Proulx <[email-masked]>
To: Clifton Ray Hodges <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:22:11 -0600
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

tag 9211 + notabug
thanks

Clifton Ray Hodges wrote:
> In the test manual for the 'test' command, it states that:
> "INTEGER may also be -l STRING, which evaluates to the length of
> STRING"
> and even in the info page it gives an example of:
> 
> test -l abc -gt 1 && echo yes

Note that it isn't standard.  It is a coreutils extension.

> but that command, as well as any in scripts, reports an error of:
> 
> bash: test: -l: unary operator expected

The error line tells all.  It says "bash: test" and that is the bash
test and not the coreutils test.

  $ type test
  test is a shell builtin

To get the coreutils test you would need to force it to be an external
command.

  $ /usr/bin/test -l abc -gt 1 && echo yes
  yes

Bob

Subject: test -l
From: Clifton Ray Hodges <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:07:36 -0400
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

Hi,

In the test manual for the 'test' command, it states that:
"INTEGER may also be -l STRING, which evaluates to the length of 
STRING"
and even in the info page it gives an example of:

test -l abc -gt 1 && echo yes

but that command, as well as any in scripts, reports an error of:

bash: test: -l: unary operator expected

This has been the case since as far back as least the summer of 
2009 when after I shortly started using a Linux Operating System 
- that was PCLinuxOS back then, but now I am using openSUSE in 
the past year (currently version 11.4 KDE).

Regards,
Clifton