I want to put the result of a command in a variable without ignoring \n

$cmd=$(ls -l)

echo $cmd

CodePudding user response：

There's probably a higher level solution to your actual problem, but if you really want to keep the trailing newlines, you could do something like:

a=$(ls -l; echo .)
a=${a%.}

but it seems like a terrible hack.

CodePudding user response：

In general, you should only use ls via substitution or in scripts, if you are willing to guarantee that none of your file names contain either spaces or special/control characters. I am, but most people are not, and they will probably tell you not to use ls non-interactively at all.

The ls command works via whitespace seperated fields. It is a very old convention, and while it works well enough if you are willing to be loyal to it, as mentioned, most contemporary users are not. As a result, using it in scripts when you have spaces in filenames will cause hazardous and/or unpredictable results.

CodePudding user response：

Use double quotes for variable substitution and command substitution:

cmd="$(ls -l)"

echo "$cmd"

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