Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!linus!philabs!micomvax!cmtl01!mdorion From: mdorion@cmtl01.UUCP (Mario Dorion) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Empty Directory? (Was: Picking a character from a word) Message-ID: <304@cmtl01.UUCP> Date: 8 May 88 02:15:57 GMT References: <13241@brl-adm.ARPA> Lines: 22 In article <13241@brl-adm.ARPA>, rbj@icst-cmr.arpa (Root Boy Jim) writes: > set nonomatch > if ( ! -e $dir/* ) echo $dir is empty. > > Didn't work under 4.3 BSD. How about a two-step solution? > > ls -A $dir > /tmp/$$ > if ( -z /tmp/$$ ) echo directory empty Wouldn't if [ `ls -a $dir | wc -w` -eq 2 ] \* for . and .. *\ then echo $dir is empty fi work ????? BTW: what does "set nonomatch" do ??? -- Mario Dorion | ...!{rutgers,uunet,ihnp4}! Frisco Bay Industries | philabs!micomvax!cmtl01!mdorion Montreal, Canada | 1 (514) 738-7300 | I thought this planet was in public domain!