Re: Option "-n" not working reliably and poorly documented

[Paul Jarc]

Jon Seymour <jon.seymour@gmail.com> wrote:
> Not sure this is correct. The ] is parsed by the shell

It's parsed by the [ command.  That happens to be a builtin command,
so yes, it is done by the shell, but it is not part of the grammar of
the shell language.

> This is why the -n option reports an error, since -n suppresses
> command execution.

-n *doesn't* report an error, because it only checks that the script
satisfies the shell grammar.  It doesn't verify that the arguments of
builtin commands are meaningful.


paul