Brace Expansion in Quotes
I understand that brace expansion in Bash will expand to multiple arguments. Can I have it expand to a single argument?
Is there a pure solution to this in Bash, without resorting to the nested echo?
Actual Behaviour
command arg{1,2,3}
$1 = arg1
$2 = arg2
$3 = arg3
Desired Behaviour
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
Non-Solution
command "arg{1,2,3}"
$1 = arg{1,2,3}
$2 =
$3 =
Potential Solution (a little hack-y?)
command "$(echo arg{1,2,3})"
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
bash
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
add a comment |
I understand that brace expansion in Bash will expand to multiple arguments. Can I have it expand to a single argument?
Is there a pure solution to this in Bash, without resorting to the nested echo?
Actual Behaviour
command arg{1,2,3}
$1 = arg1
$2 = arg2
$3 = arg3
Desired Behaviour
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
Non-Solution
command "arg{1,2,3}"
$1 = arg{1,2,3}
$2 =
$3 =
Potential Solution (a little hack-y?)
command "$(echo arg{1,2,3})"
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
bash
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
add a comment |
I understand that brace expansion in Bash will expand to multiple arguments. Can I have it expand to a single argument?
Is there a pure solution to this in Bash, without resorting to the nested echo?
Actual Behaviour
command arg{1,2,3}
$1 = arg1
$2 = arg2
$3 = arg3
Desired Behaviour
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
Non-Solution
command "arg{1,2,3}"
$1 = arg{1,2,3}
$2 =
$3 =
Potential Solution (a little hack-y?)
command "$(echo arg{1,2,3})"
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
bash
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
I understand that brace expansion in Bash will expand to multiple arguments. Can I have it expand to a single argument?
Is there a pure solution to this in Bash, without resorting to the nested echo?
Actual Behaviour
command arg{1,2,3}
$1 = arg1
$2 = arg2
$3 = arg3
Desired Behaviour
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
Non-Solution
command "arg{1,2,3}"
$1 = arg{1,2,3}
$2 =
$3 =
Potential Solution (a little hack-y?)
command "$(echo arg{1,2,3})"
$1 = arg1 arg2 arg3
$2 =
$3 =
bash
bash
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
edited Feb 2 at 22:45
Jared Brandt
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
asked Feb 2 at 22:40
Jared BrandtJared Brandt
306
306
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
Expanding arg{1,2,3} to arg1 arg2 arg3 is called Brace Expansion, splitting that into three words is called Word Splitting and inserting a command’s output Command Substitution. man bash says:
The order of expansions is: brace expansion; tilde expansion,
parameter and variable
expansion, arithmetic expansion, and command substitution (done in a left-to-right
fashion); word splitting; and pathname expansion.
In a command line like
printf %s\n {1..3}
Brace Expansion happens first and makes it
printf %s\n 1 2 3
where 1, 2 and 3 are separate words thanks to Word Splitting. There’s nothing you can do to change this order – as you experienced, quoting it does not only prevent Word Splitting, but Brace Expansion as well. You can however use Command Substitution to get a Brace Expansion even inside double quotes:
If the [command] substitution appears within double quotes, word splitting
and pathname expansion are not performed on the results.
In
printf %s\n "$(echo {1..3})"
the inner of the quotes is expanded first
printf %s\n "$(echo 1 2 3)"
printf %s\n "1 2 3"
and as the result is quoted it is not subject to Word Splitting:
$ printf %s\n {1..3} "{1..3}" "$(echo {1..3})" # prints one argument per line
1
2
3
{1..3}
1 2 3
This is indeed not only the simplest way to do this, but also a pure bash solution, as echo is a bash builtin.
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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oldest
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votes
Expanding arg{1,2,3} to arg1 arg2 arg3 is called Brace Expansion, splitting that into three words is called Word Splitting and inserting a command’s output Command Substitution. man bash says:
The order of expansions is: brace expansion; tilde expansion,
parameter and variable
expansion, arithmetic expansion, and command substitution (done in a left-to-right
fashion); word splitting; and pathname expansion.
In a command line like
printf %s\n {1..3}
Brace Expansion happens first and makes it
printf %s\n 1 2 3
where 1, 2 and 3 are separate words thanks to Word Splitting. There’s nothing you can do to change this order – as you experienced, quoting it does not only prevent Word Splitting, but Brace Expansion as well. You can however use Command Substitution to get a Brace Expansion even inside double quotes:
If the [command] substitution appears within double quotes, word splitting
and pathname expansion are not performed on the results.
In
printf %s\n "$(echo {1..3})"
the inner of the quotes is expanded first
printf %s\n "$(echo 1 2 3)"
printf %s\n "1 2 3"
and as the result is quoted it is not subject to Word Splitting:
$ printf %s\n {1..3} "{1..3}" "$(echo {1..3})" # prints one argument per line
1
2
3
{1..3}
1 2 3
This is indeed not only the simplest way to do this, but also a pure bash solution, as echo is a bash builtin.
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
add a comment |
Expanding arg{1,2,3} to arg1 arg2 arg3 is called Brace Expansion, splitting that into three words is called Word Splitting and inserting a command’s output Command Substitution. man bash says:
The order of expansions is: brace expansion; tilde expansion,
parameter and variable
expansion, arithmetic expansion, and command substitution (done in a left-to-right
fashion); word splitting; and pathname expansion.
In a command line like
printf %s\n {1..3}
Brace Expansion happens first and makes it
printf %s\n 1 2 3
where 1, 2 and 3 are separate words thanks to Word Splitting. There’s nothing you can do to change this order – as you experienced, quoting it does not only prevent Word Splitting, but Brace Expansion as well. You can however use Command Substitution to get a Brace Expansion even inside double quotes:
If the [command] substitution appears within double quotes, word splitting
and pathname expansion are not performed on the results.
In
printf %s\n "$(echo {1..3})"
the inner of the quotes is expanded first
printf %s\n "$(echo 1 2 3)"
printf %s\n "1 2 3"
and as the result is quoted it is not subject to Word Splitting:
$ printf %s\n {1..3} "{1..3}" "$(echo {1..3})" # prints one argument per line
1
2
3
{1..3}
1 2 3
This is indeed not only the simplest way to do this, but also a pure bash solution, as echo is a bash builtin.
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
add a comment |
Expanding arg{1,2,3} to arg1 arg2 arg3 is called Brace Expansion, splitting that into three words is called Word Splitting and inserting a command’s output Command Substitution. man bash says:
The order of expansions is: brace expansion; tilde expansion,
parameter and variable
expansion, arithmetic expansion, and command substitution (done in a left-to-right
fashion); word splitting; and pathname expansion.
In a command line like
printf %s\n {1..3}
Brace Expansion happens first and makes it
printf %s\n 1 2 3
where 1, 2 and 3 are separate words thanks to Word Splitting. There’s nothing you can do to change this order – as you experienced, quoting it does not only prevent Word Splitting, but Brace Expansion as well. You can however use Command Substitution to get a Brace Expansion even inside double quotes:
If the [command] substitution appears within double quotes, word splitting
and pathname expansion are not performed on the results.
In
printf %s\n "$(echo {1..3})"
the inner of the quotes is expanded first
printf %s\n "$(echo 1 2 3)"
printf %s\n "1 2 3"
and as the result is quoted it is not subject to Word Splitting:
$ printf %s\n {1..3} "{1..3}" "$(echo {1..3})" # prints one argument per line
1
2
3
{1..3}
1 2 3
This is indeed not only the simplest way to do this, but also a pure bash solution, as echo is a bash builtin.
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
Expanding arg{1,2,3} to arg1 arg2 arg3 is called Brace Expansion, splitting that into three words is called Word Splitting and inserting a command’s output Command Substitution. man bash says:
The order of expansions is: brace expansion; tilde expansion,
parameter and variable
expansion, arithmetic expansion, and command substitution (done in a left-to-right
fashion); word splitting; and pathname expansion.
In a command line like
printf %s\n {1..3}
Brace Expansion happens first and makes it
printf %s\n 1 2 3
where 1, 2 and 3 are separate words thanks to Word Splitting. There’s nothing you can do to change this order – as you experienced, quoting it does not only prevent Word Splitting, but Brace Expansion as well. You can however use Command Substitution to get a Brace Expansion even inside double quotes:
If the [command] substitution appears within double quotes, word splitting
and pathname expansion are not performed on the results.
In
printf %s\n "$(echo {1..3})"
the inner of the quotes is expanded first
printf %s\n "$(echo 1 2 3)"
printf %s\n "1 2 3"
and as the result is quoted it is not subject to Word Splitting:
$ printf %s\n {1..3} "{1..3}" "$(echo {1..3})" # prints one argument per line
1
2
3
{1..3}
1 2 3
This is indeed not only the simplest way to do this, but also a pure bash solution, as echo is a bash builtin.
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
edited Feb 3 at 10:13
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
answered Feb 3 at 9:57
dessertdessert
24.7k672105
24.7k672105
add a comment |
add a comment |
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