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Accepted
George Udosen
Asked: 2016-05-19 04:02:07 +0800 CST

Bash scripting problem on echo -ing the current working directory

  • 772

I have this code:

#!/bin/bash 

#clear screen
clear 

# Ask for name of directory to create
echo "Please enter a directory name"
echo "that you wish to create"
read dir1

# create directory
mkdir $dir1

# change to the newly created directory
cd $dir1

# Tell user where he/she is
echo "This directory is called 'pwd'"


# create some files
touch file1 file2 file3


# put in some content 
echo "This is $dir1/file1" > file1
echo "This is $dir1/file2" > file2
echo "This is $dir1/file3" > file3



# announce file names
echo "The files in $dir1 are: "
ls -hl

# show the contents  of the files
echo "The content of the files are: "
cat file1
cat file2
cat file3


echo "Goodbye"

The line with echo "This directory is called 'pwd'" refuses to give the current working directory as expected. Please help me resolve this issue, I am currently learning BASH SHELL SCRIPTING

command-line

2 Answers

  1. To get the current working directory as a variable:

    echo $PWD

    (capitals), or use the command

    pwd

    Then, using the variable, the line should be:

    echo "This directory is called '$PWD'"

    Output:

    This directory is called /home/jacob
    • 2
  2. Best Answer

    You have to use 

    echo "This directory is called $(pwd)"

    What you are trying to do is called command substitution. This used to be done using backticks (` `), but the currently recommended way is using $().

    You can find a detailed explanation in this wiki page.

    • 1