Task 5

You want to create a script that checks if a specific directory exists and performs different actions based on the result.

Solution

To solve this problem, you can use an if statement in your script to check for the existence of the directory using the test command ([ -d "$directory" ]) and execute different commands based on the result.

Step 1: Write the Script

Create a new Bash script, let's call it check_directory.sh, and add the following content:

#!/bin/bash

# Directory to check
directory="/path/to/directory"

# Check if the directory exists
if [ -d "$directory" ]; then
    echo "Directory '$directory' exists."

    # Add your commands to execute when the directory exists
    # Example: List files in the directory
    ls "$directory"
else
    echo "Directory '$directory' does not exist."

    # Add your commands to execute when the directory does not exist
    # Example: Create the directory
    mkdir -p "$directory"
fi

Replace /path/to/directory with the path to the directory you want to check.

This script checks if the specified directory exists using the -d flag with the test command. If the directory exists, it executes the commands inside the if block. If the directory does not exist, it executes the commands inside the else block.

Step 2: Make the Script Executable

Make the script executable using the following command:

chmod +x check_directory.sh

Step 3: Run the Script

Execute the script to check the existence of the directory and perform the appropriate actions:

./check_directory.sh

Now, the script will check if the specified directory exists and execute different commands based on the result, providing flexibility in handling directory existence in your scripts.

This solution allows you to automate tasks and handle directory existence dynamically in your scripts, improving efficiency and reliability.