Thread: A bash question

  1. #1
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    A bash question

    Hi,
    I am trying to redirect my output to a file and need to first put a command into a string. Here is the error:
    Code:
    bash-3.2$ cc="(date && time ls -l -a && date) > ./tmp/log"
    bash-3.2$ $cc
    bash: (date: command not found
    What's wrong?
    Thanks and regards!

  2. #2
    and the Hat of Guessing tabstop's Avatar
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    I'm not aware of a command called (date either.

    What are you trying to use the parentheses for, exactly?

  3. #3
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    The reason of using the parentheses is that I want to execute
    Code:
    date && time ls -l -a && date
    and make its output redirected to file ./tmp/log

  4. #4
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    old-school, you use back-ticks
    Code:
    cc=`date && time ls -l -a && date`
    new-school, I think it's something like
    Code:
    cc=$(date && time ls -l -a && date)
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

  5. #5
    and the Hat of Guessing tabstop's Avatar
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    Back-ticks execute the command and store the result in the variable. So if you tried to then execute $cc you'd get things like "Tue: command not found".

    I can get parentheses to work when I type them straight on the command line, but not inside a variable like that. More research is needed.

  6. #6
    Making mistakes
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    $() is the same as ``. But better, since easier to read (and for me, to type) and can't mix up with ''.

  7. #7
    {Jaxom,Imriel,Liam}'s Dad Kennedy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lehe View Post
    Hi,
    I am trying to redirect my output to a file and need to first put a command into a string. Here is the error:
    Code:
    bash-3.2$ cc="(date && time ls -l -a && date) > ./tmp/log"
    bash-3.2$ $cc
    bash: (date: command not found
    What's wrong?
    Thanks and regards!
    What you did is okay, but I think when you want to "run" a variable, you have to eval it:
    Code:
    eval $cc
    . . . but I cannot recall at the moment. It is worth a try.

  8. #8
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lehe View Post
    Hi,
    I am trying to redirect my output to a file and need to first put a command into a string.
    You will have to redirect each command before &&. However, you cannot effectively run a string with && in it anyway.

    One option is to put this into an array, which maybe is what you were trying to do with the brackets before, since that is what they'll do:
    Code:
    cc=('date' 'bash -c "time ls -l"' 'date')
    The reason I used bash -c "time ls -l" is because time is a bash builtin, and if you try to run it from a variable this way you will get
    bash: time: No such file or directory
    Now here's a weird thing about bash. If you do this:
    Code:
    for e in ${cc[@]}; do echo $e; done
    You will get this:
    date
    bash
    -c
    "time
    ls
    -l"
    date

    It seems an element here is not really what one might hope. However, this works:
    Code:
    for e in 0 1 2; do echo ${cc[$e]}; done
    date
    bash -c "time ls -l"
    date

    So, it looks like all we need now is:
    Code:
    for e in 0 1 2; do ${cc[$e]}>>tmp.txt; done
    Which will work (...almost) and amounts to (almost) same thing as using &&. I say almost because in fact you get a strange parsing related error, again from the bash/time/ls construct:
    ls: -c: line 0: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `"'
    ls: -c: line 1: syntax error: unexpected end of file

    Since the next "e" does execute dispite the failure of ${cc[1]}, this is not really equivalent to an && -- for that you need to get more complicated.

    But I cannot get 'bash -c "time ls"' to run this way. Non builtins with parameters are fine.

    I'll go ask some other bunch of monkeys tho and see if they have anything wise to add.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  9. #9
    and the Hat of Guessing tabstop's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MK27 View Post
    ((stuff))
    Or you can use eval. (Thanks Kennedy for getting my one new thing for today out of the way early so I could relax!)

  10. #10
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tabstop View Post
    Or you can use eval.
    Didn't know bash had an eval. That simplifies that.

    One last thing: to get the output of "time" into the file:
    Code:
    cc="date && time ls -d && date"
    eval $cc >tmp.txt 2>tmp.txt
    since it appears on stderr (aka channel 2).
    Last edited by MK27; 07-29-2009 at 02:42 AM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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