Expand bash environment variable containing '('

Question

Using bash from msys2 on windows 10, I can't seem to set a variable to a windows environment variable containing parens, ie '(', in a bash script. For example,

p86="$PROGRAMFILES(x86)"

doesn't work, it expands the env variable $PROGRAMFILES. I've tried escaping with backslashes, ie. "$PROGRAMFILES$x86$" but that doesn't work. Is there a way around this in bash? or are parens just not allowed in expanded variables?. All of the windows variables are available in the process environment.

Whats the value of `echo $p86` after declaration? – heemayl Jun 08 '16 at 06:21 — heemayl, Jun 08 '16 at 06:21

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 08 '16 at 06:27

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Usually you would use ${..} to dereference a variable, eg:

echo "${a}bc"

will print the variable $a and then literal bc.

Try:

p86="${PROGRAMFILES(x86)}"

Alternative you should check the output of env to see if the variable is present:

env | grep PROGRAM

answered Jun 08 '16 at 06:27

Andreas Louv

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@jenesaisquoi One hack, not recommenced could be to grep the value from `env`: `env | grep -P '(?<=ProgramFiles$x86$=).*$'`, or `env | awk -F= '$1=="ProgramFiles(x86)"{print $2}'` – Andreas Louv Jun 08 '16 at 06:53

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 21 '16 at 06:23

1

Use the Windows command processor:

PFX86="$(cmd //c 'echo %ProgramFILES(x86)%')"

answered Jun 21 '16 at 06:23

user6492512

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Expand bash environment variable containing '('

2 Answers2