CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxbash
rovinski
rovinski

Reputation: 43

bash -c does not set $? as expected

Why do the following two commands produce different results?

$ bash -c "ls BLAH; echo $?; export status=$?; echo $status"
ls: cannot access BLAH: No such file or directory
0

^ note the empty line after 0

$ cat test.sh
ls BLAH; echo $?; export status=$?; echo $status
$ bash test.sh
ls: cannot access BLAH: No such file or directory
2
0

Upvotes: 1

Views: 58

Answers (1)

Carl Norum
Carl Norum

Reputation: 225072

The expansions of $? and $status in your first example are done by your current shell - that is before the bash you're running ever sees the command string. Use single quotes:

$ bash -c 'ls BLAH; echo $?; export status=$?; echo $status'
ls: BLAH: No such file or directory
1
0

or otherwise:

$ bash -c "ls BLAH; echo \$?; export status=\$?; echo \$status"
ls: BLAH: No such file or directory
1
0

Upvotes: 1

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