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(https://stackoverflow.co/labs/)   Learn more about Labs   (https://cdn.sstatic.net/Sites/stackoverflow/Img/apple-touch-icon.png?v=c78bd457575a) (/questions/8369411/bash-script-to-change-directory-and-execute-command-with-arguments) bash script to change directory and execute command with arguments  (/questions/ask) Ask Question     (2011-12-03 17:16:27Z) Asked 13 years, 2 months ago  Modified (?lastactivity) (2015-04-28 06:43:15Z) 9 years, 10 months ago  (Viewed 49,025 times) Viewed 49k times         This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear  (69:3:31e,16:54025fdc38b63837,10:1740472816,16:ba0a466cea192fba,7:8369411,13d172d0aafee450eee0058da87a5d7c0954a8793250367d3c1b195c7ff8fb05) 12  (This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful)    (69:3:31e,16:f7439e933f5c221f,10:1740472816,16:ec5d37544159ea6c,7:8369411,2b5ab779989dcdeb4c6f5858735d0a57b31b616fdfd7780f28b543255c08ce59)      Save this question.  (/posts/8369411/timeline)    Show activity on this post.    I am trying to do the following task:
write a shell script called changedir which
takes a directory name, a command name and (optionally) some additional arguments.
The script will then change into the directory indicated, and
executes the command indicated with the arguments provided. Here an example: $ sh changedir /etc ls -al   This should change into the /etc directory and run the command ls -al . So far I have: #!/bin/sh directory=$1 ; shift command =$1 ; shift args=$1 ; shift cd $directory $command   If I run the above like sh changedir /etc ls it changes and lists the directory. But if I add arguments to the ls it does not work. What do I need to do to correct it?  (/questions/tagged/bash) (show questions tagged 'bash') bash      (/q/8369411) (Short permalink to this question) Share  Share a link to this question     Copy link (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) (The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0) CC BY-SA 3.0     (/posts/8369411/edit) () Improve this question  Follow (69:3:31e,16:8e32e0bd582f6875,10:1740472816,16:f28d18b197b3e638,7:8369411,4e122fb786b0ca47e44e9689bb067b29032ad9dba82df026a3b779a4a375d257)  Follow this question to receive notifications       (/posts/8369411/revisions) (show all edits to this post) edited (2011-12-03 18:58:23Z) Dec 3, 2011 at 18:58    (/users/360899/lesmana) (Lesmana's user avatar)    (/users/360899/lesmana) Lesmana (reputation score 27,063) 27.1k (12 gold badges)  12  12 gold badges (83 silver badges)  83  83 silver badges (87 bronze badges)  87  87 bronze badges     asked (2011-12-03 17:16:27Z) Dec 3, 2011 at 17:16   (/users/1069751/frodo) (frodo's user avatar)    (/users/1069751/frodo) frodo frodo (reputation score) 1,063 (6 gold badges)  6  6 gold badges (17 silver badges)  17  17 silver badges (33 bronze badges)  33  33 bronze badges           (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.) Add a comment |  (Expand to show all comments on this post)          2 Answers 2   Sorted by:  (/questions/8369411/bash-script-to-change-directory-and-execute-command-with-arguments?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) Reset to default   (scoredesc) Highest score (default)  (trending) Trending (recent votes count more)  (modifieddesc) Date modified (newest first)  (createdasc) Date created (oldest first)            This answer is useful  (69:3:31e,16:76a778d43948df75,10:1740472816,16:717169c7c03b6b70,7:8369446,1b13f2eca6f3641ca92b39de59035d2d4af3e643e965e2e427b10d651d440d67) 20  (This answer is not useful)    (69:3:31e,16:69a695fbf4ce9407,10:1740472816,16:b0d1f7f3a661bd25,7:8369446,686453901f548f6e0b633406e61885a4b5d4e584d02875033f1d758f1c6c7536)      Save this answer.  (Loading when this answer was accepted…)     (/posts/8369446/timeline)    Show activity on this post.    You seemed to be ignoring the remainder of the arguments to your command. If I understand correctly you need to do something like this: #!/bin/sh cd "$1 " # change to directory specified by arg 1 shift # drop arg 1 cmd="$1 " # grab command from next argument shift # drop next argument "$cmd " "$@ " # expand remaining arguments, retaining original word separations   A simpler and safer variant would be: #!/bin/sh cd "$1 " && shift && "$@ "     (/a/8369446) (Short permalink to this answer) Share  Share a link to this answer     Copy link (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) (The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0) CC BY-SA 3.0     (/posts/8369446/edit) () Improve this answer  Follow (69:3:31e,16:66843347c0aaf1aa,10:1740472816,16:e22d011a082c1faf,7:8369446,40876bd55e2c4b6854e72469afa3ef8def9c898137feec61223b44dcd31c1b1b)  Follow this answer to receive notifications       (/posts/8369446/revisions) (show all edits to this post) edited (2015-04-28 06:43:15Z) Apr 28, 2015 at 6:43         answered (2011-12-03 17:20:07Z) Dec 3, 2011 at 17:20   (/users/19563/cb-bailey) (CB Bailey's user avatar)    (/users/19563/cb-bailey) CB Bailey CB Bailey (reputation score 792,557) 793k (107 gold badges)  107  107 gold badges (644 silver badges)  644  644 silver badges (665 bronze badges)  665  665 bronze badges        2   Thank you Charles ....am I right in making the last line above to be "$cmd" "$@"  to make the "arguments" optional to the command i.e. if I run    "./changedir /etc/ ls" it will work ok and also " ./indir /etc/ ls -al" will also work ok – (/users/1069751/frodo) (1,063 reputation) frodo  Commented (2011-12-03 17:41:32Z, License: CC BY-SA 3.0) Dec 3, 2011 at 17:41        @frodo: Yes, you are right. "$@" is better because it preserves arguments as they are passed. It's what I meant but not what I wrote! – (/users/19563/cb-bailey) (792,557 reputation) CB Bailey  Commented (2011-12-03 18:24:38Z, License: CC BY-SA 3.0) Dec 3, 2011 at 18:24        (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.) Add a comment |  (Expand to show all comments on this post)             This answer is useful  (69:3:31e,16:483248671bc47035,10:1740472816,16:44bd078c654f8e61,7:8369583,2ba962f8cef9efcb2b2908327f5d27048ca3e2c6976fee0b3cbf3b039cc3c8a7) -1  (This answer is not useful)    (69:3:31e,16:128010b79ccdb790,10:1740472816,16:c10115040a051e23,7:8369583,2b4104b285549aa32cd75ab8cb6b0af6fedb0c14f031acc25cc502a9624c2438)      Save this answer.  (Loading when this answer was accepted…)     (/posts/8369583/timeline)    Show activity on this post.    Since there can probably be more than a single argument to a command, i would recommend using quotation marks. Something like this: sh changedir.sh /etc "ls -lsah"   Your code would be much more readable if you ommited the 'shift': directory=$1 ; command =$2 ; cd $directory $command   or simply cd DIRECTORY_HERE; COMMAND_WITH_ARGS_HERE     (/a/8369583) (Short permalink to this answer) Share  Share a link to this answer     Copy link (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) (The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0) CC BY-SA 3.0     (/posts/8369583/edit) () Improve this answer  Follow (69:3:31e,16:ae5d0996e92ee511,10:1740472816,16:bfe67542670ad513,7:8369583,97fc1ba91ac5ce45c7e84e6ab75255df03bea871fda8b626a64a4e333509d61e)  Follow this answer to receive notifications       (/posts/8369583/revisions) (show all edits to this post) edited (2011-12-05 09:25:03Z) Dec 5, 2011 at 9:25         answered (2011-12-03 17:40:10Z) Dec 3, 2011 at 17:40   (/users/1075878/dgasper) (dgasper's user avatar)    (/users/1075878/dgasper) dgasper dgasper (reputation score) 212 (2 silver badges)  2  2 silver badges (7 bronze badges)  7  7 bronze badges        2 (number of 'useful comment' votes received) 1   (http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/050) This way lies madness .  @Charles Bailey's method handles arguments much more cleanly. – (/users/89817/gordon-davisson) (125,958 reputation) Gordon Davisson  Commented (2011-12-03 23:09:37Z, License: CC BY-SA 3.0) Dec 3, 2011 at 23:09        True that handling more complex commands could be cumbersome but for the simple case menioned here it should suffice. It is also much clearer what the directory part and the command parts are, since the arguments really belong to the command and have no meaning on their own. – (/users/1075878/dgasper) (212 reputation) dgasper  Commented (2011-12-05 09:20:55Z, License: CC BY-SA 3.0) Dec 5, 2011 at 9:20        (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.) Add a comment |  (Expand to show all comments on this post)       (8369411) (false) () Your Answer  (False)                                Reminder: Answers generated by artificial intelligence tools are not allowed on Stack Overflow. (/help/gen-ai-policy) Learn more       (true)       Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow! Please be sure to answer the question . Provide details and share your research!  But avoid … Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.  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