Check if database exists in PostgreSQL using shell

Question

I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me about whether it is possible to use shell to check if a PostgreSQL database exists?

I am making a shell script and

Answer 1

postgres@desktop:~$ psql -l | grep  | wc -l

This will return 1 if the database specified exists or 0 otherwise.

Also, if you try to create a database that already exists, postgresql will return an error message like this:

postgres@desktop:~$ createdb template1
createdb: database creation failed: ERROR:  database "template1" already exists