passing filename with spaces to a shell script

Question

The shellscript is very simple:

retroarch $* -c /tmp/retroarch/Data/retroarch/gambatte.cfg

("retroarch" is another shellscript)

If the filename passed contains spaces it fails:

RetroArch [ERROR] :: Could not read ROM file.

See http://mywiki.wooledge.org/Quotes – jasonwryan Jun 28 '13 at 22:24 — jasonwryan, Jun 28 '13 at 22:24

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 28 '13 at 22:21

13

Use quotes.

Instead of

yourcommand some file.name

use

yourcommand "some file.name"

When using variables, quote them as well.

yourcommand "$filename"
yourcommand "$@"
...

answered Jun 28 '13 at 22:21

frostschutz

2

already tried that but did not work! – eadmaster Jun 28 '13 at 22:24
1

Can you please share the internals of your script? You need to take care internally to maintain double quotes throughout given this variable has spaces in it. – slm Jun 28 '13 at 22:31
oh right, the "retroarch" script was missing double quotes... – eadmaster Jun 28 '13 at 22:36

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 28 '13 at 22:27

-1

In general you have to either escape the spaces with backslashes () or wrap the path in either single quotes (') or double quotes (").

$ retroarch "$*" -c /tmp/retroarch/Data/retroarch/gambatte.cfg

answered Jun 28 '13 at 22:27

slm

already tried that, but i always get the error "Could not read ROM file." – eadmaster Jun 28 '13 at 22:29
Shouldn't that `"$*"` be `"$@"`? – roaima Aug 17 '17 at 11:39
@roaima - I kept the example as the OP showed it since my suggestion was around the need to quote it. – slm Aug 17 '17 at 12:54

2 Answers2