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Re: Checking if directory is empty in postrm



On Tue, Nov 17, 1998 at 10:15:43AM +0100, Richard Braakman wrote:
> Marcus Brinkmann wrote:
> > can someone give me a hint how I can efficient test if a certain directory
> > is empty in the postrm (shell script)?
> 
> If you only want to know if it's empty because you want to remove it,
> then there's a very simple solution:
> 
> rmdir directory 2>/dev/null || true
> 
> The rmdir will fail if it's not empty :)
> (You can use its return code if you need to check if it succeeded)

Indeed I want to remove it if it is empty, so this one is the winner, as it
produces the least overhead.

However, a new question arises. Will this work in all cases:

rmdir $LDIR 2>/dev/null && grep -v $LDIR $LDSOCONF >$tmpfile && mv $tmpfile $LDSOCONF || true
rm $tempfile   # just in case the mv failed, or grep failed partly

Or is there any trap door I miss?


-- 
"Rhubarb is no Egyptian god."        Debian GNU/Linux        finger brinkmd@ 
Marcus Brinkmann                   http://www.debian.org    master.debian.org
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