On Sun 03 Mar 2019 at 13:10:39 (-0500), deb wrote: > > On 3/3/19 2:43 AM, Thomas Schmitt wrote: > > Hi, > > > > if spaces are involved, then quotation marks hould be put around the > > argument of "echo". > > > > Using the leading blank from David Wright's post: > > > > $ fname=" long file with spaces.mp4" > > $ x=`echo $fname | rev | cut -d. -f2 | rev` > > $ test "$x".mp4 = "$fname" && echo IS EQUAL > > $ > > > > I.e. "$x".mp4 and "$fname" are not equal. > > That's because the leading blank got lost in the "echo" run: > > > > $ echo "'$x'" > > 'long file with spaces' > > > > Now with quotation marks around $fname to preserve the leading blank: > > > > $ x=`echo "$fname" | rev | cut -d. -f2 | rev` > > $ test "$x".mp4 = "$fname" && echo IS EQUAL > > IS EQUAL > > > > A similar effect would happen with double blanks inside the name: > > > > $ fname="long file with double spaces.mp4" > > $ x=`echo $fname | rev | cut -d. -f2 | rev` > > $ echo "'$x'" > > 'long file with double spaces' > > $ x=`echo "$fname" | rev | cut -d. -f2 | rev` > > $ echo "'$x'" > > 'long file with double spaces' > > Good thought Thomas! > > This also worked: > > $ fname=`echo "$fname" | rev | cut -d. -f2 > > Now, the actual file did not have a leading (or trailing) space --- > which I focused on. > > But IT DID have 2 adjoining spaces Within the filename.
Are you using a proportional font, by any chance, for working on these scripts. Not a good idea. The reason I picked on a leading space in my example was that the eye is much more sensitive to embedded space than at the margins. Sometimes I "lose" a file by renaming it, pasting the new name in mc, which will preserve any accidental leading and trailing whitespace. > Enclosing $fname in "", worked perfectly. > > That simple thing, that I thought I was missing, I would not have > guessed at. Two adjoining spaces. :-) Had the original string been pasted into the OP, like your error message at the end, it would have been obvious to those of us using fixed-width fonts. (BTW, asterisks are fine in the *text*, but are no help elsewhere in the post, like in your "$fname".mp4**) Cheers, David.
