set the ouput of a command to a variable

true_atlantis · 03-23-2006, 03:27 PM

how do i set the output of a command to a variable? for example,

ls -l | head -1

i want the output of that to be in varible $FIRST. how would i do that?

FIRST=ls -l | head -1

does not work...

Agrouf · 03-23-2006, 03:29 PM

FIRST=`ls -l | head -1`
(back quotes and not quotes)
or
FIRST=$(ls -l | head -1)

gilead · 03-23-2006, 03:30 PM

Try:

Code:

FIRST=`ls -l | head -1`

Or:

Code:

FIRST=$(ls -l | head -1)

That should do it.

Oops - looks like I was too slow, again