Name
expr
Synopsis
exprarg1 operator arg2
[operator arg3
...
]
Evaluates arguments as expressions and prints the result. Strings can be compared and searched. Arguments and operators must be separated by spaces. In most cases, an argument is an integer, typed literally or represented by a shell variable. There are three types of operators: arithmetic, relational, and logical. Exit status for expr is 0 (expression is nonzero and nonnull), 1 (expression is 0 or null), or 2 (expression is invalid).
expr is typically used in shell scripts to perform simple mathematics, such as addition or subtraction. It is made obsolete in the Korn shell by that program’s built-in arithmetic capabilities.
Arithmetic operators
Use the following operators to produce mathematical expressions whose results are printed:
-
+
Add
arg2
toarg1
.-
-
Subtract
arg2
fromarg1
.-
*
Multiply the arguments.
-
/
Divide
arg1
byarg2
.-
%
Take the remainder when
arg1
is divided byarg2
.
Addition and subtraction are evaluated last, unless they are grouped inside parentheses. The symbols *
, (
, and )
have meaning to the shell, so they must be escaped (preceded by a backslash or enclosed in single or double quotes).
Relational operators
Use relational operators
to compare two arguments. Arguments can also be words, in which case comparisons assume a < z
and A < Z
. If the comparison statement is true, the result is 1; if false, the result is 0. Symbols <
and >
must be escaped.
-
=
Are the arguments equal?
-
!=
Are the arguments different?
-
>
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