Using Echo Output For New Condidition

[shanenin]

I want to use this function in my bash script

check-nfs ()
{
echo "checking"
mount | grep 192.168.1 > /dev/null
if [ "$?" = 0 ]
then
   echo "NFS is mounted"
else
   echo "NFS is not mounted"
 fi
}

depending on the output either "NFS is mounted" or "NFS is not mounted" how could i use that output as a condition in an other if else statement? Sorry if this is not clear.

[jcl]

You can pipe the function as you would any utility, but if you only want to know whether NFS is mounted and don't care about the output of the function it might be easier to use 'return'. 'return' will cause the function to immediately return to its caller with a specifiable exit status; as usual $? can be used to access the exit status. For example

check-nfs ()
{
    echo "checking"
    mount | grep 192.168.1 > /dev/null
    if [ "$?" = 0 ]
    then
        echo "NFS is mounted"
        return 0
    else
        echo "NFS is not mounted"
        return 1
    fi
}

which could be used like so

check-nfs
if [ "$?" = 0 ]
then
    # do something with NFS
else
    # mount NFS or panic
fi

Edited April 22, 2005 by jcl

[shanenin]

return was what I was looking for, Thanks :-) I originally tried to use some other ways that did not work. I will give you guys something to chuckle at

here are some failed attemps:

check-nfs ()
{
echo "checking"
mount | grep 192.168.1 > /dev/null
if [ "$?" = 0 ]
then
   echo "NFS is mounted"
   exit 0 #this gave me the correct return, but had the negative effect of stoping my script
else
   echo "NFS is not mounted"
   exit 1
fi
}

I also tried this, I was just reaching for anything that might work ;-)

check-nfs ()
{
echo "checking"
mount | grep 192.168.1 > /dev/null
if [ "$?" = 0 ]
then
   echo "NFS is mounted"
   $?=0
else
   echo "NFS is not mounted"
   $?=1
fi
}

[jcl]

exit was the first thing I considered too

The second one was a good idea; too bad the shell is a bit inconsistent about how it handles variables. Many rather useful variables are untouchable, often because of syntax issues.

Edited April 22, 2005 by jcl