CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bashtilde
bubbadoobop
bubbadoobop

Reputation: 21

How to use the Bash read command to capture filepaths containing "~" (tilde)

So I've been starting bash scripting, and I'm making a script that will autoinstall from source (so essentially it just compiles tarballs for you). I need it to change directories in order to go to a tarball. However, whenever I use this command

read path
cd $path

I always get the error tar-installer.sh: line 13: cd: ~: No such file or directory For anyone needing it, here's the full script...

#!/bin/bash
# This program auto-installs tarballs for you.
# I designed this for Linux noobies who don't
# know how to install tarballs. Or, it's for
# people like me who are just lazy, and don't
# want to put in the commands ourselves.

echo "Tar Installer v1.1"
echo "Gnu GPL v2.1"
echo -n "Path to tarball:"
read path
cd $path
echo -n "Please enter the file you wish to complile..."
read file
if  $file =="*.tar.gz"
then
    tar -xzf $file
   else
       $file =="*.tgz"
then
    tar -xzf $file
else
    $file =="*.tar.bz2"
then
    tar -xjf $file

The final part with the tarballs is still a work in progress. But the directory I used for cd path was ~/Downloads/

It's probably an easy fix, but I don't know how to fix it.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 5307

Answers (2)

Nam Pham
Nam Pham

Reputation: 316

Because "cd" is build-in function of bash. So you should try to run your script like this:

 #source tar-installer.sh

Similar issue here:

[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/255414/why-doesnt-cd-work-in-a-bash-shell-script

Upvotes: -2

Jedi
Jedi

Reputation: 3358

You need to replace the tilde ~ by the home path. This expansion fails if it is not performed directly.

 cd "${path/#~/$HOME}"

will replace ~ with your home directory using bash's replace ${value/search_term/replacement}.

You may also want to combine echo & read: 

read -p "Path to tarball: " pathname

Also be careful when naming variables like path (PATH is your environment variable)

Upvotes: 6

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