Comparing strings in if and using or

Question

This code is not working, but I don't know what's wrong. If I only use single brackets the string isn't compared right.

#!/bin/bash
forceupdate=false
currentVersion=520-19
latestVersion=520-19
if [[ "$latestVersion" > "$currentVersion" -o forceupdate ]]
then
    echo -e "\nupdate!\n"
else
    echo -e "\nno update!\n"
fi

Could you please tell me what's wrong then instead of me having to guess it? — Tyilo
– Tyilo, Commented May 24, 2011 at 16:01

glenn jackman · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-24 16:02:37Z

2

$forceupdate inside brackets will actually be true, because it's not going to execute the false executable, but it will see a non-empty string.

if [[ "$latestVersion" > "$currentVersion" ]] || $forceupdate

answered May 24, 2011 at 16:02

glenn jackman

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1 Comment

glenn jackman Over a year ago

@David, I meant $forceupdate. The code in the question has a variable by that name, and I assumed the -o expression contained a bug.

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