:: Re: [DNG] [OT] bash / quote weirdne…
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Author: tempforever
Date:  
To: [DNG]
Subject: Re: [DNG] [OT] bash / quote weirdness
Florian Zieboll via Dng wrote:
> Dear list,
>
> this im my 'test.sh':
>
> #!/bin/bash
> for f in "$@" ; do
>     xcmd="unrar x"
>     $xcmd "$f"
> done

>
> Can please somebody explain, why, if I double-quote the "$xcmd"
> variable in line 4, the script fails with
>
>     ./test.sh: line 4: unrar x: command not found

>
> ???
>
> Commands without parameters resp. whitespace (e.g. xcmd="unzip") work
> fine when double-quoted; a web search (including the "GNU Bash manual"
> [1]) did not shed any light on this mystery...
>
> Thank you and libre Grüße,
> Florian
>
>
>
> [1] https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Double-Quotes.html
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I believe quoting $xcmd would instruct the shell to look for and execute
"unrar x" so unless you have an executable file named unrar\ x within
$PATH, it will fail.  The same thing happens within a shell:
~$ "unrar x"
bash: unrar x: command not found
~$