Using variable with cp in bash

Question

The file returned will have spaces in the file name so I run the file name through sed to append quotes at the beginning and end. However, when I use $CF with cp it fails. If I manually echo $CF and use the resulting file in place of $CF it works just fine. What's the problem?

CF=`ls -tr /mypath/CHS1*.xlsx | tail -1 | sed -e 's/^/"/g' -e 's/$/"/g'`
cp $CF "/mydest/myfile.xlsx"

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:03:05Z

18

You don't need to add the quotes like that (in fact, it probably won't work). Instead, just use them in the cp line:

CF=$(ls -tr /mypath/CHS1*.xlsx | tail -1)
cp "$CF" "/mydest/myfile.xlsx"

I changed it from using backticks to the newer (and preferred) $() syntax.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:03

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jan 29, 2013 at 18:24

Carl Norum

226k42 gold badges442 silver badges480 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using variable with cp in bash

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related