\section if if - conditionally execute a command

\subsection if-synopsis Synopsis
<tt>if CONDITION; COMMANDS_TRUE...; [else; COMMANDS_FALSE...;] end</tt>

\subsection if-description Description

<tt>if</tt> will execute the command CONDITION.  If the condition's
exit status is 0, the commands COMMANDS_TRUE will execute.  If the
exit status is not 0 and <tt>else</tt> is given, COMMANDS_FALSE will
be executed.  

In order to use the exit status of multiple commands as the condition
of an if block, use <a href="#begin"><tt>begin; ...; end</tt></a> and
the short circuit commands <a href="commands.html#and">and</a> and <a
href="commands.html#or">or</a>.

The exit status of the last foreground command to exit can always be
accessed using the <a href="index.html#variables-status">$status</a>
variable.

\subsection if-example Example

<pre>
if test -f foo.txt
	echo foo.txt exists
else
	echo foo.txt does not exist
end
</pre>
will print <tt>foo.txt exists</tt> if the file foo.txt
exists and is a regular file, otherwise it will print 
<tt>foo.txt does not exist</tt>.