Problem with loading date into variable
 

I have the following code:
The expected result is to see the date four times.
Instead I get:

Can anyone tell me the reason for this and give me a work around
Thanks Frank

First of all, you need to remove the space after the =. Secondly, you need to tell Bash to run the command and store the output in the variable. What you're attempting to do is store the text "date" in the variable. What you want to do is the following:

mydate=$(date)

You might want to read more about Bash scripting. A good guide can be found here.

Are you still having problems with this?

Sorry for the delay in replying.
Thanks for your Answer. The reference you sent is invaluable. Can you recommend a good 'dead tree' book? I'm marking it solved.
Problem is I'm very new to Bash scripting, and I'm trying to convert my old C & PHP programs into Bash. I know what I need to do, but I'm having problems with the mechanics.

Frank

Cool. Unfortunately, I (personally) am unable to recommend a book on Bash as I only really learnt from the guide I provided a link to. Maybe check out some of the books in the bibliography of said guide, or perhaps Learning the bash Shell. There are probably other good books, too.

Out of interest, though, why are you converting C and PHP programs to Bash?

AFAIK there isn't one; we have moved into the online age and documentation is mostly on the web. There's a list of shell scripting links here and further intros here and here. Bash keeps on getting better (or more bloated, depending on your PoV) so beware that older documentation does not cover newer features. Once you are up to speed (and maybe before) you may find GNU's bash reference useful.

See also
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz
http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-G...tml/index.html
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

Another list of tutorials here, with reviews.

Dead tree books. These ar every necessary in India (where I come from). Sometimes you commute upto two hours a daya - daily. So leaves little time for using the computer (and most people cant afford laptops).

"The UNIX programming environment" by Kernigan and Pyke.

OK

If the demand is there then some enterprising person (no shortage of those in India!) will produce them. Alternatively you could download the online pages and print them onto dead trees yourself ...

Nylex wrote:
In order to convert formatted text files, e.g. guttenberg.org, into well formatted XML, Kindle or HTML on the fly. Currently they have to be down loaded converted with an app and uploaded to the server.

Thanks to the others for the many online references.

Like the commuter from India, I do a lot of traveling where online is not available.

Frank