test for a pattern in sh?

[David N. Lombard]

stan wrote:
> I need to do something like this:
> 
> if $VAR does not contain SV do something
> 
> I found some examples for patterm`n matching with case, but I'd reaher use
> an if here, if I can do pattern matching with it.
> 
> Is this possible?

First, use Bash not Bourne Shell.  If you really do mean Bourne, and I 
doubt you do, then you'll need to learn about expr(1).  expr(1) is 
something dinosaurs like me are quite expert in, but also understand 
there's simply no reason to use such limited forms when bash (Korn) let 
you do so much better.

This is the literal translation of what you asked:

   #!/bin/bash

   [[ $VAR != *SV* ]] && dosomething

If something is more than one line, try this:

   #!/bin/bash

   [[ $VAR != *SV* ]] && {
	dosomething
	dosomethingmore
   }

When there's somethingelse to do if SV *is* found, try this:

   #!/bin/bash

   if [[ $VAR != *SV* ]] ; then
     dosomething
   else
     dosomethingelse
   fi

I do this to update PATH:

   [[ :$PATH: != *:/some/dir:* ]] && export PATH=/some/dir:$PATH

Note that this will test for SV as a prefix, infix, or suffix

-- 
David N. Lombard