Help with Check Syntax of Shell Script without Running

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

Hi Everyone,

Is there any way ( generic) to check syntax of Shell Scripts without running it??

2

Assuming you're using a shell based on Bourne shell syntax (such as ksh or bash ), try:

YourShell -n YourScriptPath
3

Don's suggestion is the best bet. You can also try adding a line like this at the top

set -n

in the script itself. For modern shells - NOT csh.

4

Thanks for the help... I tried sh -n <script-name> it worked fine for some errors...

But in case of the following errors, nothing happened
Example:-

1)

export FILE1=INPUT-FILE
export FILE2=OUT-FILE
cp FILE1 $FILE2

Here $ should be there before FILE1.
This error is not caught

2) If a file which is declared, is not at all present in the path mentioned, those errors are not handled

3) # is not present in the starting of comment line...this error is not being caught.

Is there any way to take care of the above??

5

In the thread title you talk about syntax errors and those are checked with the -n flag.
Your examples 1) and 2) are semantic errors but syntactically correct.
1) copying a file called FILE1 is syntactially valid, no matter wheter you have defined a variable with the same name or not.
2) what do you mean when you say "a file which is declared"? Anyway, a file can be created any time. It is no syntax error just because a file referenced any way is not there at the time you check the syntax.
3) may be a special case of 2). The comment may be interpreted as an executeable with arguments (which does not have to exist at the time you check).