5.1. Quoting Variables

When referencing a variable, it is generally advisable to enclose its name in double quotes. This prevents reinterpretation of all special characters within the quoted string -- except $, ` (backquote), and \ (escape). [1] Keeping $ as a special character within double quotes permits referencing a quoted variable ("$variable"), that is, replacing the variable with its value (see Example 4-1, above).

Use double quotes to prevent word splitting. [2] An argument enclosed in double quotes presents itself as a single word, even if it contains whitespace separators.

List="one two three" for a in $List # Splits the variable in parts at whitespace. do echo "$a" done # one # two # three echo "---" for a in "$List" # Preserves whitespace in a single variable. do # ^ ^ echo "$a" done # one two three

A more elaborate example:

variable1="a variable containing five words" COMMAND This is $variable1 # Executes COMMAND with 7 arguments: # "This" "is" "a" "variable" "containing" "five" "words" COMMAND "This is $variable1" # Executes COMMAND with 1 argument: # "This is a variable containing five words" variable2="" # Empty. COMMAND $variable2 $variable2 $variable2 # Executes COMMAND with no arguments. COMMAND "$variable2" "$variable2" "$variable2" # Executes COMMAND with 3 empty arguments. COMMAND "$variable2 $variable2 $variable2" # Executes COMMAND with 1 argument (2 spaces). # Thanks, Stéphane Chazelas.

Enclosing the arguments to an echo statement in double quotes is necessary only when word splitting or preservation of whitespace is an issue.

#!/bin/bash
# weirdvars.sh: Echoing weird variables.

echo

var="'(]\\{}\$\""
echo $var        # '(]\{}$"
echo "$var"      # '(]\{}$"     Doesn't make a difference.

echo

IFS='\'
echo $var        # '(] {}$"     \ converted to space. Why?
echo "$var"      # '(]\{}$"

# Examples above supplied by Stephane Chazelas.

echo

var2="\\\\\""
echo $var2       #   "
echo "$var2"     # \\"
echo
# But ... var2="\\\\"" is illegal. Why?
var3='\\\\'
echo "$var3"     # \\\\
# Strong quoting works, though.


# ************************************************************ #
# As the first example above shows, nesting quotes is permitted.

echo "$(echo '"')"           # "
#    ^           ^


# At times this comes in useful.

var1="Two bits"
echo "\$var1 = "$var1""      # $var1 = Two bits
#    ^                ^

# Or, as Chris Hiestand points out ...

if [[ "$(du "$My_File1")" -gt "$(du "$My_File2")" ]]
#     ^     ^         ^ ^     ^     ^         ^ ^
then
  ...
fi
# ************************************************************ #

Single quotes (' ') operate similarly to double quotes, but do not permit referencing variables, since the special meaning of $ is turned off. Within single quotes, every special character except ' gets interpreted literally. Consider single quotes ("full quoting") to be a stricter method of quoting than double quotes ("partial quoting").

Since even the escape character (\) gets a literal interpretation within single quotes, trying to enclose a single quote within single quotes will not yield the expected result. echo "Why can't I write 's between single quotes" echo # The roundabout method. echo 'Why can'\''t I write '"'"'s between single quotes' # |-------| |----------| |-----------------------| # Three single-quoted strings, with escaped and quoted single quotes between. # This example courtesy of Stéphane Chazelas.