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Old 11-09-2004, 08:07 AM   #1
JohnKFT
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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: NW Scotland
Distribution: Slackware 10
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Spaces in file names


I use wmf2gd --auto to instantly convert windows metafiles to png files for inclusion in various graphics programs. This works fine until it meets a filename containing spaces whereupon it stops at the first space and says it cannot find the expected suffix .wmf. I have scoured the forums for a simple answer but they all involve complex programming or knowing the filename to begin with.

I have a ROX wrapper containing #! /bin/sh then wmf2gd --auto $1 and simply dnd the file off the CD onto it. With no filename spaces it makes me a png file with the same name in the folder holding the wrapper. I can then pick it up and drop it where I want it. Can anyone tell me how to make it cope with spaces in filenames? ROX itself copes OK as do other programs so I think it is just the terminal.

Edit as one paragraph was too long!

Last edited by JohnKFT; 11-09-2004 at 08:08 AM.
 
Old 11-09-2004, 08:20 AM   #2
marghorp
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Registered: Jan 2004
Location: Slovenia
Distribution: Slackware 10.1, SLAX to the MAX :)
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The Unix - Linux way of dealing with spaces in command line is this. For example:

This is a file.exe (Windows)
This\ is\ a\ file.exe (Linux)

See how the \ makes Linux know that the next character is not a space. I believe this char (\) is used to create multiline commands.

You should use this somehow in your script.
 
Old 11-09-2004, 10:16 AM   #3
OrphanedLand
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Registered: Dec 2003
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\ means following character is not special character, it is a printable character. If you write \ and then press enter, it wont process the line, it will go to new line.

Also \\\\\\\\\ = \

All this features come from C language because of bash had been written using C language
 
Old 11-09-2004, 03:44 PM   #4
JohnKFT
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Registered: Aug 2003
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Thanks folks. I finally figured it out - put $1 in double quotes thus "$1" as the input - works perfectly. I had tried this early on but it did not work. With hindsight I think i must have committed the cardinal error of changing more than one variable at the same time!
 
  


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