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Hello list,
When I type a command in bash to invoke a Windows application (like cmd.exe, for example), I can't seem to find a pattern in the Windows command line that actually gets executed. Ordinary bash syntax does not seem to apply in general when the command is a Windows app, but rather, sometimes special characters are interpreted in a bash-like way, and sometimes not. So, I'm wondering what determines whether a quote mark or something gets interpreted or passed on.
Here are some examples:
$ cmd /c echo "/?" Displays messages, or turns command-echoing on or off.
ECHO [ON | OFF] ECHO [message]
Type ECHO without parameters to display the current echo setting.
# OK, so I'm getting the Windows echo, not the bash echo. Good. # Moving on... $ cmd /c echo abc abc
$ cmd /c echo "abc" abc
$ cmd /c echo "\"abc\"" "\"abc\""
# Wahhh?!
Anyone who knows the explanation would make me very grateful. I've tried this with other Windows apps too, and the same weirdness seems to occur.
On a related note, I've noticed what appears to be an automatic sort of
half-bash invocation (but not quite?) or something when I run Cygwin commands from cmd.exe. For example,
c:\cygwin\bin\echo hihi
c:\cygwin\bin\echo "hi"hi
c:\cygwin\bin\echo "\"hi\"""hi"
c:\cygwin\bin\echo *myfile myotherfile yetanotherfile ...
And yet...
c:\cygwin\bin\echo $PATH$PATH
What the heck is going on? Are there any rules here at all? Sorry if I'm missing something dumb. And sorry for apologizing for it. And......
-- Larry Hall http://www.rfk.com RFK Partners, Inc. (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office 216 Dalton Rd. (508) 893-9889 - FAX Holliston, MA 01746
A: Yes. > Q: Are you sure? >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. >>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?
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