koalaman / shellcheck Public
SC2237
Jake Zimmerman edited this page Jun 5, 2019
·
2 revisions
Use [ -n .. ] instead of ! [ -z .. ].
(or "Use [ -z .. ] instead of ! [ -n .. ].)
Problematic code:
if ! [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then echo "JAVA_HOME not specified"; fi
if ! [ -z "$STY" ]; then echo "You are already running screen"; fiCorrect code:
if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then echo "JAVA_HOME not specified"; fi
if [ -n "$STY" ]; then echo "You are already running screen"; fiRationale:
You have negated test -z or test -n, resulting in a needless double-negative. You can just use the other operator instead:
# Identical tests to verify that a value is assigned
! [ -z foo ] # Not has no value
[ -n foo ] # Has value
# Identical tests to verify that a value is empty
! [ -n foo ] # Not is non-empty
[ -z foo ] # Is empty
Exceptions:
This is a stylistic issue that does not affect correctness. If you prefer the original expression, you can't not Ignore it with a directive or flag.
Related resources:
- Google Bash Style Guide on Testing Strings
- Help by adding links to BashFAQ, StackOverflow, man pages, POSIX, etc!