[work 2] cat t
#!/bin/sh -x

com='sh -c '\''echo $1'\'

$com x one two

Execution gives:

[work 2] ./t
+ com=sh -c 'echo $1'
+ sh -c 'echo $1' x one two
Syntax error: Unterminated quoted string

However, when I copy&paste the command, it works:

[work 2] sh -c 'echo $1' x one two
one

Thanks!
Lasse

what shell are you using? I guess you mixed up shell variables and
aliases/functions

under bash, you can use a function:
        com() { sh -c "echo $2" }
under csh/tcsh, use an alias:
        alias com 'sh -c "echo \!:2"'

then run:    com x one two
you get:  one

Xicheng

Xicheng

pdksh (under NetBSD).

I know that :-).

I need it in the form of a variable, because I'd like to use it with
xargs. I'd like to do:

find ... | xargs $com

xargs needs an executable, not a shell function. Hence, I encapsulate
my shell function into the sh -c '...' construct. Because I use it
often in a script, I'd like to store it in a variable. (An alternative
is to realize the shell function in the form of an extra script.)

Thanks for your answer,
Lasse

oo, I see, but I guess you need to use an "eval" to make it executable:

    eval "$com x one two"

Xicheng

on your variable

--
Most legends have their basis in facts.
                -- Kirk, "And The Children Shall Lead", stardate 5029.5

   From the bash man page (it applies to all Bourne-type shells):

       Enclosing characters in single quotes preserves the literal
       value of each character within the quotes. A single quote may
       not occur between single quotes, even when preceded by a
       backslash.

--
   Chris F.A. Johnson, author   |    <http://cfaj.freeshell.org>
   Shell Scripting Recipes:     |  My code in this post, if any,
   A Problem-Solution Approach  |          is released under the
   2005, Apress                 |     GNU General Public Licence

Interesting quote, but not applicable here. Look how the single quotes
pair up.

com='sh -c '\''echo $1'\'
     \____/   \______/
The value of com should be

        sh -c 'echo $1'

So there are no single quotes between single quotes.

find /dir -print0 | xargs -0 -n 1 sh -c '
  # do something with "$1"
  # remember not to put single quotes in here
' "$0"

The last argument is put in $0 when the "inside" script is run. "$0"
give it the name of the "outside" script. Without it the file name from
xargs will end up in $0. This is from the bash man page; ksh work the
same way:

-c string If the -c option is present, then commands are read from
          string. If there are arguments after the string, they are
          assigned to the positional parameters, starting with $0.

You can replace '<script>' with a variable, and the variable can contain
single quotes.

Magnus

On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 19:59:29 +0200

Yes, this works. But I do not understand why the other thing did not.
Output from my script is now:

[work 2] ./t  
+ com=sh -c 'echo $1'
+ eval sh -c 'echo $1' x one two
+ sh -c echo $1 x one two
one

Thanks for all your answers!

Quoting recognition happens before parameter expansion, not after.
Therefore the -c code sh get is "'echo", with "$1'" as the first
argument (the script name).

Magnus

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:14:28 +0200

Just to make sure I understand:

It would be the responsibility of quoting recognition to realize that
the single quotes surround the inner script (i.e., echo $1). However,
at the time when quoting recognition takes place, the contents of the
variable com is not yet available, because parameter expansion has not
taken place before.