MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Quoting variables containing options in CLI

wladdy · 08-02-2015, 11:14 AM

To be even more specific, this works;

Code:

a="authors:John Doe"
calibredb set_metadata -f "$a" 10030

this does not:

Code:

a="-f authors:John Doe"
calibredb set_metadata "$a" 10030

but this does:

Code:

a="-fauthors:John Doe"
calibredb set_metadata "$a" 10030

Why does putting the -f flag inside a variable requires the removal of the subsequent space? Is it a bash issue or something specific to calibredb?

Thank in advance. W.

08-02-2015, 11:14 AM	#2
wladdy Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: iPad / Kindle DX	To be even more specific, this works; Code: a="authors:John Doe" calibredb set_metadata -f "$a" 10030 this does not: Code: a="-f authors:John Doe" calibredb set_metadata "$a" 10030 but this does: Code: a="-fauthors:John Doe" calibredb set_metadata "$a" 10030 Why does putting the -f flag inside a variable requires the removal of the subsequent space? Is it a bash issue or something specific to calibredb? Thank in advance. W.