Strange subshel/path failures

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Strange subshel/path failures

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Strange subshel/path failures - May 25, '06, 8:29:39 PM

dotequals

Posts: 4
Joined: May 10, '06,
Status: offline

Let's say I want to know what kind of file my cat executable is. I can run file on it, but first I need to know where it is, so I run which on it:

$ which cat
C:\usr\bin\WSFU\bin\cat

Which is fine, except it's a Windows path, and I want to pass it to file, which takes a unix path; so I run winpath2unix on it:

$ winpath2unix $(which cat)
/dev/fs/C/usr/bin/WSFU/bin/cat

Also still fine. But now I try to pass that to file:

$ file $(winpath2unix $(which cat))
' (No such file or directory).n/WSFU/bin/cat

Not fine! Actually, that's really weird. But if I just echo that same subshell command:

$ echo $(winpath2unix $(which cat))
/dev/fs/C/usr/bin/WSFU/bin/cat

it works perfectly. Furthermore, if I pass the path to file manually:

$ file /dev/fs/C/usr/bin/WSFU/bin/cat
/dev/fs/C/usr/bin/WSFU/bin/cat: Windows NT PE format (EXE), executable not stripped Intel Posix-CUI DOS executable (EXE)

nothing is wrong there either. I can't figure this out, but it seems to have broader implications than just file.

Max

Post #: 1

RE: Strange subshel/path failures - May 25, '06, 10:01:14 PM

Rodney

Posts: 3728
Joined: Jul. 9, '02,
From: /Tools lab
Status: offline

Wrong command.
The which command is a csh build-in.
The match command with sh/ksh is whence. Use whence in sh scripts.
Avoid the pathname conversion whenever possible, but if you must then quote it to
protect it from getting interpreted.

If you want you can install an Interix version of which from the warehouse
(pkg_update -L which). But for sh scripts it's better to still use whence.

(in reply to dotequals)