Can't pass path to shell script

Question

I'm new to OSX, and don't use the commandline that often. I'm trying to use a script to do some automatic deployment, but when I execute the script it is looking for a directory.

I tried:

sh myscript.sh '/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development'
sh myscript.sh /Users/profiles/Desktop/Development
sh myscript.sh -/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development

but I keep getting "No Such file or directory". What is the proper way to do this?

I know this is a basic question, but I can't seem to find a simple answer. Everything I find on google is much more advanced..

UPDATE: In the script, it's looking for the path like this:

DIR_DEVELOP=$@

if [ -z $DIR_DEVELOP ]; then
    echo "Syntax: myscript.sh <destination>"
    exit 1

Also, what's in your shebang line ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebang_(Unix) )? — msanford, Apr 02 '12 at 13:34
Then you don't need to pass the script to `sh` (which is itself a shell) at all as the purpose of the shebang line is to choose an interpreter for the script. Assuming the script has the execute bit set, you can call it like `./myscript.sh '/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development'`. — msanford, Apr 02 '12 at 15:13
Perhaps another good question for us to ask of you would be *Please show us what your script does when it looks for the path you pass*, because the bug is probably there. I should have started with that question :) — msanford, Apr 02 '12 at 15:16
@msanford - This is a script that has been in operation for a while, so I know it's not the script, it's me... — cinqoTimo, Apr 02 '12 at 17:03
@msanford - ./myscript.sh '/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development' still says "No Such File or Directory" — cinqoTimo, Apr 02 '12 at 17:03
What I meant by my second comment was: would you please post the source code of your script that relates to your path argument (probably a `{$1}` somewhere) just to check. — msanford, Apr 02 '12 at 17:17
Can you post output of `ls -l myscript.sh` Since you are not reporting seeing any output from `sh -x ...` I'm wondering if the script isn't in the current directory, or maybe there is a problem with the filename such as containing a trailing space character. — Brian Swift, Apr 02 '12 at 21:13

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 02 '12 at 13:28

1

You have to enable tracing in bash:

bash -x myscript.sh '/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development'

You will see the "No Such file or directory" message right after the line that generates the error.

answered Apr 02 '12 at 13:28

Mircea Vutcovici

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I ran that line and got the same thing... – cinqoTimo Apr 02 '12 at 14:56
It is the same output? Or the same error? – Mircea Vutcovici Apr 02 '12 at 18:29
Same exact output - just says "No Such File or Directory" – cinqoTimo Apr 02 '12 at 19:34
Before the error can you see commands from the script? Is the partition mounted with no-exec? – Mircea Vutcovici Apr 02 '12 at 19:59

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 02 '12 at 20:39

You don't need to use ' in your path. According to the Advanced Bash Scripting guide:

$@
Same as $*, but each parameter is a quoted string, that is, the parameters are passed on intact, without interpretation or expansion. This means, among other things, that each parameter in the argument list is seen as a separate word.

So the path your script is trying to access is literally '/Users/profiles/Desktop/Development' instead of /Users/profiles/Desktop/Development

Can't pass path to shell script

2 Answers2