Bash script variables

Question

I need to write a script that would take two filenames as arguments, then remove all duplicate slashes from those and pass them into some other app, let's say vim.

I started with something like that but of course it doesn't work

#!/bin/bash
/usr/local/bin/vim $($1 | sed s#//*#/#g)

...and why would you care about removing duplicate slashes from the name? A filename starting with // may be given special treatment if the local OS or filesystem chooses to do so, but anywhere other than in the leading position extra slashes are harmless on any POSIX-compliant system. — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 1:25
Also, this code creates bugs when handed filenames with spaces. — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 1:26
the original problem is that SourceTree doesn't pass $LOCAL file when configured to use vim as differ, I noticed that for whatever reason it has double slash in the end, but removing slashes didn't solve my problem :( So SourceTree sends filepath that looks like that /var/folders/lk/p5gtdm514773pg4ldm5whf1w0000gn/T//lVM4Zx_build-server-task.coffee any other editor can open that, but vim just refuses — iLemming
– iLemming, Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 1:44

paddy · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-16 01:21:29Z

2

The pipe operator will take the output of one command and pass it to another command. In your case, $1 is a string value that you don't want to run as a command. Instead you can pass that value into sed with the string redirection operator <<<, as follows:

$(sed s#//*#/#g <<< $1)

answered Dec 16, 2014 at 1:21

paddy

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3 Comments

dreamlax Over a year ago

Is the <<< specific to Bash or is it available in a POSIX shell too?

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

@dreamlax, it's a bashism.

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

...the POSIX equivalent would be <<EOF, followed by a newline, then $1, then another newline, then EOF. Obviously, using <<< is shorter.

Reut Sharabani · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-16 01:26:23Z

1

Give readlink a try:

/usr/local/bin/vim "$(readlink -m "$1")"

answered Dec 16, 2014 at 1:26

Reut Sharabani

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3 Comments

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

@Agzam, "doesn't work" is not enough information to actually understand or diagnose a problem. If you want to provide something helpful, use #!/bin/bash -x as the shebang for your script so you can show the command it actually runs, and how this differs from what you expect or desire.

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

@Agzam, ...the most likely reason this wouldn't work, by the way, would be being on an operating system with a non-GNU implementation of readlink. Did you specify your OS in the question? [Edit: Ahh, yes, you did -- Apple, which indeed uses a BSD readlink rather than a GNU one].

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

@Agzam: For files that already exist, this will work on OS X if you simply take out the -m; for files that don't exist, you'll need to find a different solution. Of course, you could also install GNU readlink in your PATH before the system one, and that would fix it too.

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