[snip]
Also, does someone have a 'simple' bash scripting resource they
could point
me to? I can find plenty of advanced scripting pages but founf
nothing with
the above example that worked.
Try http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prog-Intro-HOWTO.html
Thanks Paul & Filippos for the links, I think the 'intro' would be my best starting point...
Maybe someone needs to come up with a representation for the space character in documentation to highlight the fact that a space is required as it is easily missed, by me anyway !!
Spaces (also "whitespace", any combination of various space/tab characters) can be very important in scripts as field and parameter separators. You'll soon get used to it if you write scripts on anything like a regular basis.
I also find it useful to think of the "[" in the "if" statement:
if [ x = y ]; then ...
as being the same as the command "test" (see man test). When you think of it ("[") as a command (which it is), the need for a space after it is more obvious in my mind.
Paul.
