unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)'

Question

I'm simply trying to get the output from a sql statement and store in bash variable. I am getting " unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)' " error. I don't see what i'm doing wrong. Why am I getting this error?

var=$($ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus / as sysdba <<EOF  
select status from v\$instance;
exit;
EOF
)

Check "bash --version" That "<< EOF" part requires Bash version -ge 4.1. — Michael D., Oct 24 '16 at 21:28
@MichaelD., seems to work for me on `version 3.1.17(1)-release`, as well as on 4.3. — ilkkachu, Oct 24 '16 at 21:35
@ilkkachu ok. my source was: http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/bashver4.html (Example 37-9. Using a here document to set a variable) — Michael D., Oct 24 '16 at 21:46

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 24 '16 at 21:24

5

Is your script indented like that? the delimiter for the here-doc has to be at the beginning of the line. This works for me:

#!/bin/bash
echo $(cat <<EOF
blah
EOF
)

answered Oct 24 '16 at 21:24

ilkkachu

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Good catch. Note that [if you use `<<-EOF` instead of `< – Wildcard Oct 24 '16 at 22:31
it is not indented. Sorry for the confusion. – Eternal Punishment Oct 25 '16 at 14:09

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 13 '19 at 08:52

Ikkachu is correct that the code, when not indented, should work fine on any reasonably modern version of Bash. However, I would add that you may find it easier to understand and debug if you use a "here string" instead of a "here doc":

var=$(sqlplus / as sysdba <<< 'select status from v$instance; exit;')

Or, use a standard pipeline:

var=$(echo 'select status from v$instance; exit;' | sqlplus / as sysdba)

unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)'

2 Answers2