noleander

I'm working on a PC running Windows XP. Using win-bash, but not CygWin. Having tremendous problems with spaces in folder names. Posted a question earlier today, and Ooble promptly replied with an excellent answer: Changing dirs works as long as you omit the drive ID:

bash> cd "C:\Program Files" # fails
bash> cd "\Program Files" # works

Thanks to Ooble. Next question: After typing "Program Files" the 40th time I'm thinking it is time to store the string "Program Files" in a string. I tried creating a variable and using it:

declare pf="\Program Files"
cd $pf

but this does not work because of the space in the folder name (it does work for folders without spaces in the name).

QUESTION: In bash on Windows, how can I store directory names (containing spaces) in variables so I can use them for "cd"?

Thanks in advance for any help,
neal
(unix programmer reluctantly shifting to PC)

Ooble

Create a new environment variable called "PF", and refer to it by typing "%PF%":

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Me :: You :: Them

noleander

Thanks for the tip, but it does not seem to work. When I type

set var="abc"

this does not create an env variable. That is, I do not see the variable "var" when I look at the env variables (using either "set" or "declare" to display them).

I _can_ create env variables with "declare", but that does not work for the "cd" command as I discussed earlier because of the embedded space issue.

A clue: when I have a valid env variable (containing a valid directory path), such as HOMEPATH, and I try

cd %HOMEPATH%

that fails with msg:

C:\Program Files\bash\bash.exe: %HOMEPATH%: No such file or directory

I'm sure I am missing something obvious.

neal

Ooble

That's because HOMEPATH has the C:\ bit in it - you can't CD to that. Try typing the code I posted earlier - it should work (at least, it did when I tested it).

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Me :: You :: Them

noleander

I tried it again, and it still fails. Here is the log of my bash shell:


bash$ cd "/Program Files"
bash$ pwd
C:/Program Files
bash$ set pf="/Program Files"
bash$ cd %pf%
C:\Program Files\bash\bash.exe: %pf%: No such file or directory


Any help would be appreciated!
neal

Ooble

Perhaps it just doesn't work in the bash shell...

__________________
Me :: You :: Them