[SOLVED] Dpkg-reconfigure in BASH

Issue

I've recently done a script that reconfigures all packages on a Debian Stable (7.3) system. I'm using the command

    dpkg-reconfigure -pcritical -a --force

Everything worked fine, but today I made some changes to the code (I don't think they are related) and now I'm getting this error:

Can't exec "dpkg-query": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 98.
Can't exec "dpkg": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 82.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 83.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 84.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 85.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 86.
Can't exec "dpkg-query": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 98.
Can't exec "dpkg": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 82.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 83.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 84.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 85.
Use of uninitialized value $_ in pattern match (m//) at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 86.
Can't exec "dpkg-query": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 98.
Can't exec "dpkg-query": Not a directory at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 202.
readline() on closed filehandle QUERY at /usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure line 204.

There are thousands of lines full of similar lines (these are the last ones). The system is running in runlevel 1 - single-user - and as user root. And another interesting thing is that dpkg exit code is still 0.

Thank you for your help in advance.

EDIT: here's the script

#!/bin/bash
DPKG_RECONFIG_PATH=/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure
# Function for checking critical executables (exits on error)
chk_crit ()
{
TARGET=$1
PATH=$2
if [ -e $PATH ] # Pass 1 - checking existence
then printf "$TARGET exists\n"
else
    printf "$TARGET doesn't exist!\n"
    exit
fi
if [ -x $PATH ] # Pass 2 - checking execution permissions
then
    printf "$TARGET is executable\n"
else
    printf "$TARGET is not executable, attempting chmod!\n"
    chmod 755 $TARGET_PATH
    CHMOD_EXIT=$?
    if [ $CHMOD_EXIT = 0 ] # Checking if chmod has succeeded
    then
        printf "chmod succeeded\n"
else
        printf "chmod failed, $TARGET is unusable!\n"
        exit
    fi
fi
}

chk_crit dpkg-reconfigure $DPKG_RECONFIG_PATH

# Reconfiguring all packages, only asking critical questions
$DPKG_RECONFIG_PATH -pcritical -a --force
DPKG_EXIT=$?
if [ $DPKG_EXIT = 0 ]
then printf "Reconfiguration succeeded\n"
else printf "Reconfiguration failed\n"
exit $DPKG_EXIT
fi
exit

Solution

Well, sorry for the question as it was absolutely my mistake. Thank you for all those who helped me recognize the bug.

The script didn't work as I accidentally used $PATH as a name for one of my custom variables. It reset the real $PATH and prevented dpkg execute correctly. Now I corrected it to $TARGET_PATH and everything works fine. Once again, sorry for being so careless.

Answered By - user3212254