How can I use the output from pwd as a variable?

Question

My homework question given is:

How can you print the path of the current directory (working directory) and how can you use it as a variable?

The first part of the question is easily answered: By using pwd.

But how can I use the output as a variable?

Have a look at the defined environment variables (hint: use `env` to print them). Or initialize your own variable with the output of `pwd`. — Benjamin Bannier, Jul 18 '10 at 19:05

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 18 '10 at 19:31

5

Bash has a variable PWD which should be preferred over the pwd command:

echo "$PWD"

answered Jul 18 '10 at 19:31

Philipp

`pwd` is a Bash builtin so the cost is low. – Dennis Williamson Jul 18 '10 at 20:27

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '10 at 19:06

In bash, you can execute a command and obtain the output using backticks, for example

paul@paul-laptop:~$ WORKING_DIRECTORY=`pwd`
paul@paul-laptop:~$ echo $WORKING_DIRECTORY
/home/paul

There is an alternate syntax too, using a dollar sign and brackets - WORKING_DIRECTORY=$(pwd)

2 Answers2