Error trap/detection question in sh

[Douglas Siebert]

I have written a script in sh using named pipes to perform an unattended ftp
session.  I would like to insert some form of error checking/detection in it to
check for conditions such as "Network unreachable" and "Connection timed out"
etc.  I am using a command of the form:

ftp -n [address] < pipe > outfile &

where "pipe" is a named pipe created by "mknod pipe p"  I suppose I could add
something of the form 2>errorfile to trap errors and if the file is of positive
size assume something has occurred which I do not wish.  I am hoping for a
cleaner, better way though.  Any ideas?
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________________________________________________________________________
Doug Siebert                                     dbert at gnu.ai.mit.edu
MBA Student (2nd year)
The University of Iowa