Bash Script to Pass String to Matlab

Question

I am trying to write a bash script to pass a user input string into a Matlab function.

This is the script I currently have:

#!/bin/bash
echo Input a message.
read message
matlab -r -nosplash -nodesktop -nojvm "arduinoWriter\(\'$message\'\);"

where arduinoWriter is a Matlab function that takes a string as an input.

If I run the script and input HELLO , it works as expected. If however I input HELLO WORLD, it does not work. Something about the space is messing it up.

If I run the command matlab -r -nosplash -nodesktop -nojvm "arduinoWriter$\HELLO\ WORLD\'$;" in the terminal, it works fine, but not if I use HELLO\ WORLD as in the input to the bash script. Even if it did work as an input, I would prefer not to have to put slashes in front of every space.

Any ideas?

As alternatives, you could use input within MATLAB, or write an M-file script that you execute with matlab -r. — Cris Luengo
– Cris Luengo, Commented Jul 18, 2018 at 3:36

Cris Luengo · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-18 03:30:54Z

2

Your first problem is that you separate the -r parameter and its argument. You need to reorder your command line so that -r appears after the other arguments, and right before the command to execute:

matlab -nosplash -nodesktop -nojvm -r command

(Actually, the order of parameters doesn't matter, but you need to keep -r command together.)

Next, within the double quotes, you don't need to escape the parenthesis or the single quotes:

Enclosing characters in double quotes (") preserves the literal value of all characters within the quotes, with the exception of $, `, \, and, when history expansion is enabled, !.

Thus, removing all the backslashes from your command, we get:

matlab -nosplash -nodesktop -nojvm -r "disp('$message');"

(I replaced your function call with something that would actually work on my machine, for testing.)

answered Jul 18, 2018 at 3:30

Cris Luengo

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1 Comment

Micah Johnson Over a year ago

Works perfectly now. Thank you!

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