How to compare two string variables?

[signalsys]

two string variables:
var1="0123'
var2='01BD'
What syntax should i use to compare the two variables and output the bigger one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[columb]

You say you want to output the bigger one. This implies that the strings are, in fact, hex digits. I'm not sure you can compare hex digits in ksh.

In general terms the symbols > < = <= >= refer to string comparison and -lt -le -eq -gt -ge refer to numeric comparison

so

# print numeric biggest var
[[ $var1 -gt $var2 ]] && echo $var1 || echo $var2
# print dictionary bigest var
[[ $var1 > $var2 ]] && echo $var1 || echo $var2

but neither work for hex.

Ceci n'est pas une signature
Columb Healy

 

[cspilman]

If you're comparing hex values, you can try this

var1=`echo "16i 0123 p" | dc`
var2=`echo "16i 01BD p" | dc`

[[ $var1 -gt $var2 ]] && echo $var1 || echo $var2

Regards,
Chuck