Created SC2331 (markdown)

Vidar Holen
2025-04-08 10:22:01 -07:00
parent 9363525243
commit d36797bd0e

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## For file existence, prefer standard -e over legacy -a.
### Problematic code:
```sh
if [ -a ~/.bash_aliases ]
then
source ~/.bash_aliases
fi
```
### Correct code:
```sh
if [ -e ~/.bash_aliases ]
then
source ~/.bash_aliases
fi
```
### Rationale:
The POSIX standard way to check whether a file exists is `[ -e file ]`.
Bash and Ksh have historically allowed using `-a`, but this has no benefit and some potential downsides. For example, in Bash `[ -a file ]` is true when the file exists, but `[ ! -a file ]` is also true, and unconditionally so, because `-a` is treated as logical "and" between non-empty strings.
Avoid the ambiguity entirely by always using the standard, portable `-e`.
### Exceptions:
None
### Related resources:
* Help by adding links to BashFAQ, StackOverflow, man pages, POSIX, etc!