CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bash
mrwooster
mrwooster

Reputation: 24227

How to retain quotes when executing a command in bash

I have a bash script which contains something similar to the following:

cmd="grep 'a b'"

echo $cmd
$cmd

The issue I am having is that the $cmd, for some reason, removes the quotes around the 'a b', and executes the command as grep a b, causing it to error:

% ./test.sh
grep 'a b'
grep: b': No such file or directory

I have tried various combinations of quotes and escaping, but the result is always the same.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 65

Answers (2)

John Kugelman
John Kugelman

Reputation: 362107

The best place to store commands is in functions. Rule of thumb: Variables are for data; functions are for commands.

cmd() {
    grep 'a b'
}

...

cmd

Upvotes: 5

gniourf_gniourf
gniourf_gniourf

Reputation: 46903

You shouldn't use strings for that, but arrays:

cmd=( grep 'a b' )
"${cmd[@]}"

See BashFAQ/050 for in-depth overview.

Upvotes: 3

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