shilpam has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I need to execute a perl script from a shell script. If it is success, I need to do a few more things else on error it should exit the shell script with an error code. My problem is not with running the perl script or getting the status code but the if-then-else part of the script. No matter what, it goes into the else part and prints "failure". Is the syntax of if-then-else ok? I am pasting the code below. 
#!/usr/bin/sh
cd go_to_dir_where_perl_program_exists
/usr/bin/perl perlscript.pl
echo "Status String is $?"
if( $? -eq 0)
then echo "success"
# do some more stuff
else
echo "failure"
# do some more stuff

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Re: calling perl script from shell script
by pelagic (Priest) on Mar 26, 2004 at 13:05 UTC
    Is this code complete or did you just forget the fi?
    Do a simple test like
    /usr/bin/perl perlscript.pl
ret=$?
echo "Status String is $?"
if [ $ret -eq 0 ]
then
  echo "case A"
else
  echo "case B"
fi

    [download]

    pelagic
    update
    Your are testing the $? of the echo stmt ... ;))

    -------------------------------------
    I can resist anything but temptation.
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      I tried the piece of code you have posted, but it gives me error:
      ./new_script.sh: ret: not found
      Status String is 1
      ./new_script.sh: test: argument expected


      Then I declared ret as $ret=$?, then I got another error:
      ./new_script.sh: =0: not found
      Status String is 1
      ./new_script.sh: test: argument expected

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        Probably because you've got ret = $? or some other variant with spaces around the =. And the second is just plain wrong, as the $ is for interpolating in shell not a universal variable prefix. At any rate, it's not a perl problem; you need to look into something like Learning the bash Shell (ISBN 1565923472) or the Z shell intro.

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        Exactly what shell are you using? I run it on solaris, having used following code
        #!/usr/bin/sh
echo /usr/bin/perl perlscript.pl
ret=$?
echo "Status String is $?"
if [ $ret -eq 0 ]
then
  echo "case A"
else
  echo "case B"
fi

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        and it gave me 
        Status String is 0
case A

        [download]

        pelagic

        -------------------------------------
        I can resist anything but temptation.
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Re: calling perl script from shell script
by redlemon (Hermit) on Mar 26, 2004 at 14:31 UTC
    apart from forgetting a fi, your using the wrong braces: (something) calls "something" in a subshell, which always returns true. The syntax you're looking for is: 
    if  test $? -eq 0
then
else
fi

    [download]
    or alternatively 
    if [  $? -eq 0 ]
then
else
fi

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    Use square braces in stead of round ones. finally, it might be easier to use: 
    cd go_to_dir_where_perl_program_exists  &&
if   /usr/bin/perl perlscript.pl
   then echo "success"
   # do some more stuff
else
  echo "failure"
  # do some more stuff
fi

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Re: calling perl script from shell script
by Plankton (Vicar) on Mar 26, 2004 at 16:32 UTC
    shilpam,

    You might find this node helpful.

    Plankton: 1% Evil, 99% Hot Gas.
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