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thinksinbinary
Asked: 2016-06-29 05:34:52 +0800 CST

How to run my C programs with the Bourne Shell?

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I have no problem running my C programs by switching to their directory and starting them with ./. However, I'm not sure why changing to the directory and then typing sh [Program Name] gives me this error:

Fortune_Teller_5000: 1: Fortune_Teller_5000: Syntax error: "(" unexpected

and:

./Fortune_Teller_5000: 1: ./Fortune_Teller_5000: Syntax error: "(" unexpected

I read in the bash man pages that the sh command is a shell that doesn't read the .bashrc file, so I'm a little confused as the why I can't use it to run programs I made. I did use it to install my printer drivers according to the directions on the HP Linux Imaging and Printing page.

sh

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Typing sh program_name assumes that program_name is a shell script and executes the script (so it must be in a sh/bash language). If Fortune_Teller_5000 is a binary file (a Compiled C program, or even C source code), running sh Fortune_Teller_5000 will not work as expected.

    Here are 2 ways you could do it:

    1. Type sh then ENTER, and then type ./Fortune_Teller_5000 (you may need to cd into the proper directory)
    2. Type sh -c ./Fortune_Teller_5000 or sh -c /path/to/folder/Fortune_Teller_5000
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  2. Running sh [Program Name] instructs the sh program to execute a shell script named [Program Name] so if this file is a C program, the command will fail.

    The POSX specification for sh, the standard command language interpreter states that the argument for sh should be the “pathname of a file containing commands”.

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