hide random home http://www.fmi.uni-passau.de/archive/doc/unix/unixhelp/Unixhelp/scrpt_scrpt2.4.3.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)

The || operator

The || operator

You can use the || operator to execute a command and, if it fails, execute the next command in the command list. For example:

   cmd1 || cmd2

cmd1 is executed and its exit status examined. If cmd1 fails then cmd2 is executed. This is a terse notation for:

   cmd1
   if 	test $? -ne 0
   then
   cmd2 
   fi