How do I execute a command string in BASH?

Question

I would like to execute the following from a bash script

exiftool -r -v5 -P -ext mov -ext avi -ext mp4 -ext 3gp "-Directory<MediaCreateDate" -d "/media/data/Home Movies/testdestdir/%Y/%b/" "/media/data/Home Movies/testsrcdir/"

I have built this by concatenating strings into a $CMDEXEC when echoing the variable it looks fine but I cannot execute it from bash script. I tried various combinations without luck.

`$CMDEXEC` >> $LOGFILE

$($CMDEXEC) >> $LOGFILE

etc.

Great link @gniourf_gniourf I will improve my script when time allows. — SebS
– SebS, Commented Nov 22, 2014 at 21:32

gniourf_gniourf · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-22 21:10:07Z

2

Did you try eval "$CMDEXEC" >> "$LOGFILE" ?

edited Nov 22, 2014 at 21:10

gniourf_gniourf

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answered Nov 22, 2014 at 21:07

toddlermenot

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2 Comments

SebS Over a year ago

I did and is working now. I realised that I left out the E from the variable as in $CMDEXE

toddlermenot Over a year ago

@SebS Good to know. But as gniourf_gniourf linked in his comment, it is considered a poor practice to put commands inside variables. So please avoid unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. As for `` not working, eval causes the shell interpreter to interpret again after variable expansion whereas `` does not. See stackoverflow.com/questions/11065077/…

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