0

I have a script, someutil.sh which I would like to call in another script main.sh.

Both scripts are:

  • In ~/bin and are executable (chmod +x someutil.sh).
  • Headed with #!/bin/bash
  • Functional from the command-line

$PATH includes ~/bin by default and ~/.bashrc includes the aliases:

alias someutil="someutil.sh"
alias main="main.sh"

I have attempted to run someutil inside the script in the following ways

  • someutil args (identical to usage on interactive command line)
  • ./someutil args
  • ~/bin/someutil.sh args

Main.sh executes but gives a "command not found" error for the "someutil" if I try to use the alias.

someutil also creates a file to use temporarily (in the home directory) which it then tries to append some data to (using >>, but this throws a "Permission denied error"). However, the parts where I use "sed -i ..." with the file as an input file work fine.

I have also tried following the advice from these answers:

The only thing that works is to call the function using ~/bin/someutil.sh but I would really like to use the aliases (for readability) and add the commands to the path to avoid always giving a full path. I also don't understand why the script that creates a file cannot later edit it...

So, I am clearly missing something with either the path variable (different path variables for different users or environments), or somehow not understanding which permissions the scripts run under when executed.

I am using Debian Buster on a virtual machine on a Chromebook ("Linux development environment (Beta)").

Help would be appreciated!

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    This might help: using alias in shell script? Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 15:11
  • @Cyrus One of those answers linked a bit deeper in the thread you linked did the job, namely, regarding setting shopt -s expand_aliases and then source ~/.bash_aliases in the script itself. Thank you! I'll post an answer and reference you and the link I found via yours (or mark as duplicate?) Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 16:54

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

Courtesy of @cyrus and this answer, the solution was to add the following to the beginning of my main.sh script:

shopt -s expand_aliases
source ~/.bash_aliases

Then, I could use my custom scripts the same way as in the interactive shell.

The issue regarding permissions for the temporary file was a simple, unrelated syntax error which resulted in the script attempting to execute the file instead of what was intended (see this answer)

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

Comments

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.