Bash string continuation for MySQL command

Question

I'm trying to clean up a database while running some tests in a bash script, and the following attempt at line continuation is not working:

mysql -e "DELETE FROM test.users WHERE username ="\
            "'<a href=https://localhost>XSS Hack!</a>';"

I get the error

ERROR 1044 (42000): Access denied for user 'web'@'localhost' to database ''<a href=https://localhost>XSS Hack!</a>';'

The command works fine if I run it on a single line.

@SeanBright That works, thanks! So I guess we can always use an implicit line continuation inside a string? — Vale132
– Vale132, Commented Jul 12, 2018 at 20:10

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-12 20:23:33Z

1

The backslash escapes the newline, but the whitespace at the beginning of the next line still acts as a word delimiter. So the command becomes equivalent to:

mysql -e "DELETE FROM test.users WHERE username =" "'<a href=https://localhost>XSS Hack!</a>';"

If you end a line in the middle of a string, you don't need to escape the newline. MySQL doesn't mind newlines in queries, either. So you can simply write:

mysql -e "DELETE FROM test.users WHERE username =
          '<a href=https://localhost>XSS Hack!</a>';"

answered Jul 12, 2018 at 20:23

Barmar

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