[mushka]

Hi there, I'm very new to shell scripting so this may be incredibly simple to someone but:-

I've started using cron to automate some simple spam relocation and destruction. I want to see if there's a file called robinspam in dir /home/robin, and if there is I want to copy it, rename it, then move the copy to a folder and chmod it so anyone can read it from the ftp site. I'm getting a ' [ -e command not found ' message from cron when it tries to run it.

anyway here's the script. any help greatly appreciated as usual.
chz
ben

#!/bin/bash
if [-e /home/robin/robinspam ] ; then

cp /home/robin/spam /home/robin/robinspam
echo spam was found in mail directory robin

mv -f /home/robin/robinspam /ftpfolder/robinspam.txt
echo spam was duplicated and moved to the ftp folder

chmod o+r /ftpfolder/robinspam.txt
echo chmod on the file was successful anyone can read the file now

else
echo there was no spam found for user robin

fi

[Squashman]

Originally Posted by mushka

#!/bin/bash
if [-e /home/robin/robinspam ] ; then

cp /home/robin/spam /home/robin/robinspam
echo spam was found in mail directory robin

Shouldn't this be the other way around. You are testing to see if robinspam exists but then you are copying some other file called spam to robinspam. I thought you wanted to copy robinspam to another filename.

You are getting that error because you dont have a space after the first Bracket before the hypen and e.

[Squashman]

One more thing. Why dont you just eliminate the move command and just use the copy command to move and rename the file at the same time.

cp /home/robin/spam /ftpfolder/robinspam.txt

[mushka]

I thought i was doing something stupid. wood for the trees
cheers
ben

[mushka]

although, I was being daft and had made a mistake with the filenames, the "command not found" problem persisted. But it was cured by adding a space after the square brackets and before the -e.
eg
if [ -e /home/robin/spam ]

as opposed to

if [-e /home/robin/spam ]

just in case anyone is having a similar error message

[Squashman]

Originally Posted by mushka

although, I was being daft and had made a mistake with the filenames, the "command not found" problem persisted. But it was cured by adding a space after the square brackets and before the -e.
eg
if [ -e /home/robin/spam ]

as opposed to

if [-e /home/robin/spam ]

just in case anyone is having a similar error message

Isn't that what I said in my first post.

[mushka]

oops, sorry Squashman,
you are of course completely correct.
more haste less speed required on my part.
cheers again, and I promise to read further posts in their entirety.
ben