Write special character in bash string

Question

I want to do the following:

echo 'truncate \'testTruncate\' "|hbase shell

Probably the problem is with the ' char.

Do you know how can I solve it?

I get syntax error

redneb · Answer 1 · 2016-09-06T09:35:21.587

1

You can include a ' in a string that is quoted by ' as follows:

echo 'O'\''Brien'

or

echo 'O'"'"'Brien'

In both case you will get O'Brien as output. Note that in both case, we there essetially 3 strings, one next to the other, e.g. 'O', \', 'Brien'.

This looks ugly, but unfortunately backslash escapes are not supported in single quoted strings in bash.

edited Sep 06 '16 at 09:35

answered Sep 06 '16 at 09:33

redneb

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What will be the output in this example? – MosheCh Sep 06 '16 at 09:34
Thank you it works! – MosheCh Sep 06 '16 at 09:39

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 06 '16 at 09:35

1

You may use external " instead:

echo "truncate 'testTruncate' "|hbase shell

answered Sep 06 '16 at 09:35

SLePort

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Thank you it works! – MosheCh Sep 06 '16 at 09:40
Limited applicability – lifeisshubh Dec 02 '19 at 18:06

Write special character in bash string

2 Answers2