#! /bin/bash
COUNT=0

if test "$1"$ != $; #Test to see if any parameters were given

    then # This part executes if there is a first parameter given
       for a in $*
         do
           if test -f $a || test -d $a || test -L $a;
             then COUNT=$(($COUNT+1));
           fi
         done;

      if test "$1" = "."; #This deducts 2 for the implicit . and ..
         then COUNT=$(($COUNT-2));
      fi
      echo This directory contains $COUNT files that match that description.

    else # This part executes if no first parameter is given
       for a in .*
             do  COUNT=$(($COUNT+1))
             done;

       for a in *
             do  COUNT=$(($COUNT+1))
             done;

       COUNT=$(($COUNT-2)) #This deducts for the implicit . and ..
       echo This directory contains a total of $COUNT files
fi