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Shell Script that Knows Where it Is

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# 1  
Old 10-14-2010
Shell Script that Knows Where it Is
I've got a folder with a few files. One of those is a shell script. I want the shell script to figure out what folder it is, and then using that information, copy some other files in the folder to elsewhere on the computer. The purpose of this is so that it doesn't matter where the folder is when the script is executed. It's something I'm planning on sending to multiple people. I don't know how to get the script to know where it is. Any suggestions?
# 2  
Old 10-14-2010
What's in the folder that'll help it tell it apart from any other folder?
# 3  
Old 10-15-2010
pwd can show you the path
# 4  
Old 10-15-2010
That tells you the path it was run from, not the path the script's actually in...
# 5  
Old 10-15-2010
The two should be one and the same, right? Let's say I run it from a folder /superawesomefolder/myscript
If I then run myscript, so long as myscript doesn't get moved, should the run path be the same as the location?

---------- Post updated at 11:17 PM ---------- Previous update was at 11:11 PM ----------

Also, the pwd command, according to what I just read, can't be used as a variable. It's not a variable; it's a command that probably has in it "echo blah" or something, so I can't exactly pass it to a variable, can I?
# 6  
Old 10-15-2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalaska13
The two should be one and the same, right? Let's say I run it from a folder /superawesomefolder/myscript
If I then run myscript, so long as myscript doesn't get moved, should the run path be the same as the location?
As long as you're in the folder when you run it, PWD will be correct. Maybe check for some other file inside PWD to make sure.

But then, if you're always in the right folder when you run it, you don't even need to know where you are. ./ will always be the current directory.
Quote:
Also, the pwd command, according to what I just read, can't be used as a variable. It's not a variable; it's a command
It's a variable. The shell won't (or at least shouldn't) let you write to it like PWD=asdf but it's a variable in all other respects. echo $PWD works fine. VAR="$PWD" works fine. ./command "$PWD" works fine.
Last edited by Corona688; 10-15-2010 at 12:33 AM..
# 7  
Old 10-15-2010
What about if the shell is run by opening the file. Wouldn't the directory still be at ~/?

---------- Post updated at 11:43 PM ---------- Previous update was at 11:35 PM ----------

Oh wait, I figured it out! Thanks for your help, though, guys; I got it from what you said. Here's what I have:


#Two Methods
#First Method:

HI=$PWD/hi
$HI

#Second Method:

cd $PWD
./hi

---------- Post updated at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous update was at 11:43 PM ----------

btw, "hi" is the name of the second program to run. It was just a test. This idea could be ported to just about any function though.
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