# check if two directories are on the same device: if [[ $(stat -c%d /) != $(stat -c%d $DIR_NAME) ]] ; then echo "Directories are NOT on the same device" else echo "Directories are on the same device" fi # remove chars from a string var=../dir ; echo ${var//i/} ../dr var=../dir ; echo ${var//./} /dir # replace chars in a string var=../dir ; echo ${var//i/a} ../dar # skip leading characters var=../dir ; echo ${var:3} dir