Learning Linux Shell Scripting - Second Edition

The if/elif/else command

Sometimes, we need to make a decision on multiple situations or options, such as whether a city is the capital of a country, the state capital, a major city, or a small town. In such situations where, depending on various options, we need to execute different commands, if/else or if/elif/else decision-making commands are useful.

Using the if/elif/else commands, we can have multiple decision-making processes. If the if command succeeds, the command after then will be executed. If it fails, the command after the elif statement will be tested. If that statement succeeds, then statements under the elif are executed. However, suppose none of the elif conditions are true, then statements after the else command are executed. ...