8

Please consider this simple script named test:

#!/bin/bash
echo $1

and the following commands and calls:

$ echo "A B"
A B
$ echo ""A B""
A B
$ echo """A B"""
A B
$ echo """A B"""
A B

$ ./test "A B"
A B
$ ./test ""A B""
A
$ ./test """A B"""
A B
$ ./test """"A B""""
A

Could someone please explain why the call of test doens't behave like the command echo or point to the relevant documentation?

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2
  • 2
    There is already a test command, you are lucky you were using the full path, otherwise you would have had a tough time debugging the situation. Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 16:34
  • 3
    Better for this kind of test is to use printf '%q\n' "$@" instead of echo at all, which will emit your arguments one-to-a-line with hidden characters and whitespace escaped in a visible form. Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 17:24

1 Answer 1

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13

Because echo concatenates all it arguments to print them, and your script is limited to the first argument. You should use "$@" and not $1 in your script.

Let's look at the arguments you're providing for your tests:

  • ./test "A B"
    • one argument, the 3 character string AspaceB
  • ./test ""A B""
    • two arguments
      • first, empty string concatenated with A
      • second, B concatenated with empty string
  • ./test """A B"""
    • one argument, empty string concatenated with AspaceB concatenated with empty string
  • ./test """"A B""""
    • two arguments
      • first, empty string concatenated with empty string concatenated with A
      • second, B concatenated with empty string concatenated with empty string

Note: you would see different results from echo if you had used more than one space in your arguments. That's because echo concatenates its arguments with a single space:

$ echo "A   B"
A   B
$ echo ""A   B""
A B
$ echo """A   B"""
A   B
$ echo """"A   B""""
A B
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2
  • those are neat little empty string doodads. Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 16:28
  • 2
    exactly, quotes don't nest... Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 17:20

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