grep in bash script not working as expected

Question

If I run

grep -i "echo" *

I get the results I want, but if I try the following simple bash script

#search.sh
grep -i "$1" *
echo "####--DONE--####"

and I run it with sh -x search.sh "echo" I get the following error output:

' grep -i echo '*
: No such file or directory
' echo '####--DONE--####
####--DONE--####

How come? I'm on CentOS

How does echo ####--DONE--#### end up outputting ####--FINE--####? I think there's something you're not showing here. — Carl Norum
– Carl Norum, Commented Jan 22, 2012 at 22:39
If you run bash -x ... instead of sh -x ..., does it work? — drrlvn
– drrlvn, Commented Jan 22, 2012 at 22:41
Did you try adding the line #!/bin/bash at the very top of your script and then running the script as ./search.sh "echo"? — jaypal singh
– jaypal singh, Commented Jan 22, 2012 at 22:41
Please make sure to show us the exact script and output. My guess is you're running the script from an empty directory and therefore * gives No such file or directory. — Rob Wouters
– Rob Wouters, Commented Jan 22, 2012 at 22:44
That's odd, I don't see why that would fix the problem. Without the #!, the system will use #!/bin/sh to execute the script. Using /bin/sh vs. /bin/bash might make some difference, but not for anything I see here. If you'll copy-and-paste the exact contents of the script, and the exact output, this question might be useful in the future. — Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson, Commented Jan 23, 2012 at 1:31

jaypal singh · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-23 00:57:42Z

1

Add the sha-bang line at the top of your script

#!/bin/bash

and after making it executable, run the script using

./search.sh "echo"

answered Jan 23, 2012 at 0:57

jaypal singh

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gogators · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-23 01:14:00Z

0

The "sh -x" should print the files that '*' matches. It looks like it's not matching any files. Are you maybe running it in a directory with no readable files?

answered Jan 23, 2012 at 1:14

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