Concatenate multiple strings with spaces in them?

Question

I am trying to do the following in ksh shell:

JMX_ROOT=/bfs-build/build-info/mep_mainline-Linux.latest/core/mainline/automation

SMOKE_JMX_LOCATION="$JMX_ROOT/\"Smoke Set\"/*.txt $JMX_ROOT/\"Smoke Set\"/*.TXT 
$JMX_ROOT/\"Smoke Set\"/SmokeSet.jmx"

cp $SMOKE_JMX_LOCATION /var/tmp

I.e. copy .txt, .TXT and .jmx files from one directory to another directory but am getting errors because of the spaces in "Smoke Set".

Any help is much appreciated.

**Always put double quotes around variable substitutions and command substitutions** (`$foo` and `$(cmd)`), unless you understand why not to do it in a particular case (start [here](http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/4899) or [here](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Quotes)). So: start with `cp "$SMOKE_JMX_LOCATION" /var/tmp`, whereupon you realize that you have a single first argument to `cp`. Then think carefully about what omitting the quotes would do, and you get [l0b0's answer](http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/23390#23390). (Note the double quotes in `"${SMOKE_JMX_LOCATIONS[@]}"`, too) — Gilles 'SO- stop being evil', Oct 27 '11 at 21:50

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 27 '11 at 21:43

You generally can't put several paths in a single string, because anything* which is a valid string is also a valid path in most file systems. You could use an array:

JMX_ROOT=/bfs-build/build-info/mep_mainline-Linux.latest/core/mainline/automation
set -A SMOKE_JMX_LOCATIONS "$JMX_ROOT/Smoke Set/"*.txt "$JMX_ROOT/"Smoke Set"/"*.TXT "$JMX_ROOT/Smoke Set/SmokeSet.jmx"
cp "${SMOKE_JMX_LOCATIONS[@]}" /var/tmp

* Before anyone protests about \0 and /, the former can't be part of a variable (at least if ksh works like Bash; couldn't find a reference), and the latter can't be part of file names, but it's very much valid in paths.

Zsh is the only shell that I recall coping with null characters. — Gilles 'SO- stop being evil', Oct 27 '11 at 21:42

Concatenate multiple strings with spaces in them?

1 Answers1