Re: OT: Which tool, and how, to get partial string from file?

[Thomas Adam <thomas@edulinux.homeunix.org>]

On Fri, Aug 20, 2004 at 09:46:52PM -0500, Kent West wrote:
> Maybe I'm asking the wrong question.
> 
> Here's a new question.
> 
> How can I test to see if the word "tuber" is in the /etc/passwd file, 
> reliably, and take an action if it is, and take a different action if 
> it's not, in a bash shell script?

You won't need to read the file, use "getent passwd":

getent passwd | grep tuber

If 'tuber' is the username, you can shorten this to:

getent passwd tuber

or even:

[ -n "$(getent passwd tuber)" ] && tuber exists || tuber does
not exist

-- Thomas Adam

--
"Frankly, Mr. Shankly, since you ask. You are a flatulent pain in 
the arse." -- Morrissey.