How to save a file using heredoc syntax but preserve the actual variable output?

Question

cat test.sh

#! /usr/bin/env bash

#some other commands
#some other commands
loc="$(which chromium-browser)"
cat > loc.txt <<'endmsg'
location = '$loc'
endmsg

I have simplied my script to properly explain my issue. I am trying to save the output of a variable in another file using heredoc .But it seems that heredoc simply saves the raw text present inside endmsg tags

Currently

cat loc.txt

location = '$loc'

Since "which chromium-browser" is actually - /usr/bin/chromium-browser

Expectation

cat loc.txt

location = /usr/bin/chromium-browser

is there any way by which i could save the actual variable output in another file and not literally save the raw text. Its fine its the answer doesn't uses heredoc for achieving this , although preferably it shouldn't be complex for doing something so simple.

See: [How to cat <> a file containing code?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/22697688/3776858) — Cyrus, Jun 26 '20 at 14:49
@Cyrus i tried changing the cat line like this referring to the accepted answer to add the bashslash - cat > loc.txt < — Sachin, Jun 26 '20 at 15:02
You should escape no part of the delimiter. No single quotes, double quotes, or backslashes. — Benjamin W., Jun 26 '20 at 15:03
You also don't want the single quotes within the here-doc, or you'll get `'location = /usr/bin/chromium-browser'` — Benjamin W., Jun 26 '20 at 15:04
You could use `printf '%s\n' "location - $(which chromium-browser)"`, no here-doc at all. — Benjamin W., Jun 26 '20 at 15:37

seumasmac · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-26T15:15:11.767

1

Simply remove the single quotes:

#! /usr/bin/env bash

#some other commands
#some other commands
loc="$(which chromium-browser)"
cat > loc.txt << endmsg
location = $loc
endmsg

will work fine.

edited Jun 26 '20 at 15:15

answered Jun 26 '20 at 15:08

seumasmac

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How to save a file using heredoc syntax but preserve the actual variable output?

1 Answers1