| Expression | Is True If |
|---|---|
| file1 -ef file2 | file1 and file2 the two filenames refer to the same hardlinked file |
| file1 -nt file2 | file1 is newer than file2 |
| file1 -ot file2 | file1 is older than file2 |
| -b file | file exists and is a block-special (device) file |
| -c file | file exists and is a character-special (device) file |
| -d file | file exists and is a directory |
| -e file | file exists |
| -f file | file exists and is a regular file |
| -g file | file exists and is set-group-ID |
| -G file | file exists and is owned by effective group ID |
| -k file | file exists and has its “stkicky bit” set |
| -L file | file exists and is a symbolic link |
| -O file | file exists and is owned by the effective user ID |
| -p file | file exists and is a named pipe |
| -r file | file exists and is readable |
| -s file | file exists and has a length greater than zero |
| -S file | file exists and is a network socket |
| -t fd | fd is a file descriptor directed to/from the terminal. This can be used to determine whether standard input/output/error is being redirected |
| -u file | file exists and is setuid |
| -w file | file exists and is writable |
| -x file | file exists and is executable |
File Test Operators