Re: OT: Script to add line to file if it doesn't exist

[Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net>]

On 2010-04-08 03:01, Mart Frauenlob wrote:
> On 07.04.2010 23:12, Ron Johnson wrote:
> > On 2010-04-07 15:45, Mart Frauenlob wrote:
> > > On 07.04.2010 22:10, Kent West wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> > > > I want a script that will read the file and look for the name "fred",
> > > > and if it's found, leave the file alone, but if it's not found, to add
> > > > the name "fred" to the bottom of the file.
>
> > > #!/bin/sh
> > > grep -w "fred" file || printf "%s\n" "fred" >>file
> > Mart's method is the shell way.  The 3GL Way is:
> >
> > grep -w "$NAME" "$FILE"
> > TMP=$?
> > if [ "$TMP" = "1" ];
> > then
> >     echo -e "$NAME\n" >> "$FILE"
> > fi
>
> May I ask what the 3GL way is?
> All that is 'shell' scripting, right?

Shell operators like &&, ||, |, > *implicitly* do "if" comparisons, 
open files for read/write, etc.

By "the 3GL Way", I mean a more explicit enunciation of each step.

--
"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak
or the timid."  Dwight Eisenhower