[SOLVED] Shell script doesn't create files

Issue

I try to create randomly between 30 and 130 files in a specific folder with a shell script. I might have made some mistakes because I am not working with shell for long time. Here is my code:

ran=$RANDOM
while [$ran > 100]; do
  $ran = $RANDOM
done
$ran=$ran+30
i=0
while [$i < $ran]; do
  cat > 'Lobby/data/map_'$i'.dat'
  $i=$i+1
done

Hope you can help me. I'm working with debian.

Solution

Try this (use bash):

#!/bin/bash
ran=$(( RANDOM % 100 ))
ran=$(($ran+30))

for (( start = 1; start <= $ran; start++ ))
do
  touch './Lobby/data/map_'$start'.dat'
done

or sh:

ran=$(( $$ % 100 ))
ran=$(($ran+30))
i=0
while [ "$i" -le "$ran" ]; do
    touch './Lobby/data/map_'$i'.dat'
    i=$(( i + 1 ))
done

Make sure you have permissions to write in this folder. Random % 100 will generate number up to 100 - adding 30 will make sure you are not below 30 or above 130 so no need for additional check like you did.

Regards, Vedran

Answered By - Vedran Mile Tomljanovic