direction symbol in a variable as part of the command


 
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# 1  
Old 12-06-2007
direction symbol in a variable as part of the command

Hi,

How can I get this to work?

#!/bin/ksh

if [ -n "$1" ]; then
direction=">>"
else
direction=">"
fi

cat some_file_name $direction temp.txt

exit

This shell script is not happy with using "$direction" opposed to ">" or ">>".

Thanks.

Peter
# 2  
Old 12-06-2007
Try

direction=\>

maybe, just maybe...
# 3  
Old 12-06-2007
Nope it did not work. When I echo it out, it shows "\>". I tried using eval, but with eval, I can get the return code if there was a problem with the command.
# 4  
Old 12-06-2007
eval is the key to getting this work and I do not understand your objection. You can ignore the return code if you want. Or you can test it if you want. This is the way any command works.


Code:
$ eval true
$ echo $?
0
$ eval false
$ echo $?
1
$

# 5  
Old 12-06-2007
You are absolutely correct. I don't know what I did, but it did not work earlier. Thanks for your help.
# 6  
Old 12-06-2007
An alternative would be to run shell again...

Code:
sh -c "cat some_file_name $direction temp.txt"

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