Re: Encoding multiple filenames in a single variable

[Chris F.A. Johnson]

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010, Jon Seymour wrote:

> This isn't strictly a bash question, and I'd prefer a POSIX-only
> solution if possible [ suggestions as to a good question to ask
> POSIX-only questions would be appreciated ].

  The comp.unix.shell newsgroup is a good place.

> Suppose I need to encode a list of filenames in a variable and each
> filename may contain spaces, what is good way to encode such a list so
> that the resulting variable is readily compose-able and decodeable? In
> particular, I'd like to avoid the use of (unescaped) separators which
> might themselves be used in the filename.

   Either separate them with newlines, or (non-POSIX) use an array.

## POSIX
NL='
'
files=${files:+$files$NL}$nextfile

## Array
files+=( "$nextfile" )

--
   Chris F.A. Johnson, <http://cfajohnson.com>
   Author:
   Pro Bash Programming: Scripting the GNU/Linux Shell (2009, Apress)
   Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)