Run/execute concatenated variable as command

Question

word2018 FILE_2018 > FILE_2018.out &

this works OK for me in bin/bash, terminal, konsole, BASH

I have an text-file script in #!/bin/bash, where I run this variable CMD and it works in CSH, but not in BASH.

CMD="word${year} ${FILE_version.txt} > ${FILE_version.out} &"

word2018 - system alias defined/sourced from other location
word - static name
2018 - variable (can be any number 2015, 2022,....)
FILE_version - variable (can be - FILE_2015, FILE_2022,...)

csh -c "$CMD" ...works OK
bash -c "$CMD" ...NOT working, command word2018 not found

any advice, help? I would appreciate very well

alias_name = test tries to run alias_name with = and test etc. as arguments, probably not what you want. — choroba
– choroba, Commented Feb 17, 2022 at 16:56
Trying to store commands in variables tends not to work very well (see BashFAQ #50: "I'm trying to put a command in a variable, but the complex cases always fail!" and many previous questions here). Variables are really for storing data, not executable code. As for the example code in this question, it has so many problems it's hard to tell what're the real problems and what's just sloppy summarization. — Gordon Davisson
– Gordon Davisson, Commented Feb 17, 2022 at 18:34

ufopilot · Accepted Answer · 2022-02-17 18:00:52Z

1

Just call $CMD

testABC(){
   echo "arg: $1"
}
alias_name=test
#....system alias
var1=ABC
var2=123

CMD="${alias_name}${var1} ${var2}"
echo CMD: $CMD

$CMD

result:

CMD: testABC 123
arg: 123

answered Feb 17, 2022 at 18:00

ufopilot

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2 Comments

Scripter Over a year ago

it doesnt work........

Nic3500 Over a year ago

Works fine on Mint 20.3

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