How to make a variable out of the output of a unix command? [duplicate]

Question

I'm trying to have a variable $totalLines that stores the total lines in a file (given as input $1).

I'm trying to do something like this:

totalLines= grep -c *.* $1

But Unix doesn't like that.

I've tried enclosing it in paranthesis, square brackets, and (), but that doesn't work either. This has got to be super simple but I'm searching for the answer around the web and not finding a page or forum that clearly states it.

Sorry to trouble you guys with such an easy one.

fasouto · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-06 22:47:44Z

2

There are two ways to achieve it:

totalLines=$(grep -c *.* $1)

or

totalLines=`grep -c *.* $1`

answered Oct 6, 2013 at 22:47

fasouto

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1 Comment

Chris Dodd Over a year ago

the $(...) form only works with some shells, such as bash and zsh. It won't work with csh or sh

Sualkcin · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-06 22:46:40Z

1

Like: totalLines=$(grep -c *.* $1)

answered Oct 6, 2013 at 22:46

Sualkcin

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