Getting error in basic bash script

Question

I am creating a basic bash script to create a blank file each day that I can use for taking notes. I'm naming the file with the current date and then trying to write it into a notes directory under my Documents folder. Everything works fine if I use the complete path but I'd rather use ~ instead of typing out my home dir.

This works:

notesPath="/Users/erik/Documents/RN/_DailyNotes/"

And this fails with a "no such file or directory" error:

notesPath="~/Documents/RN/_DailyNotes/"

I'm doing the following after creating notesPath:

todayFile=$notesPath$fileName
todayPretty=$(date "+%m/%d/%y")
echo "Daily $todayPretty" >> $todayFile

Any ideas?

Are you running this script via a cron job? It's probably not executing as your user, so ~ is not resolving to your home folder. — Blorgbeard
– Blorgbeard, Commented Jul 28, 2014 at 1:07

John1024 · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-28 01:09:50Z

6

Bash does not expand ~ inside of quotes. Try:

notesPath=~/"Documents/RN/_DailyNotes/"

For all the gory details on when and how ~ expands, see man bash, particularly the section entitled Tilde Expansion.

answered Jul 28, 2014 at 1:09

John1024

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