Executing a command named in a variable

[Avi Greenbury]

Ray Parrish wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I'm thinking of a way to set a default external editor in a bash
> program I am writing, and need to know if it is possible to execute a
> command named in a variable that gets set by retrieving the command
> line for the external editor's command line from a configuration file.
> 
> Would the following work?
> 
> # set variable to command line
> ExecuteEditor="/usr/bin/gedit filename.ext"
> # execute external command.
> $ExecuteEditor &

Yes, assuming you mean bash. 

Did you try it? It's not something that's particularly dangerous to try.

It's worth checking for the existence of the $EDITOR environment
variable, first, as this is where the user would be expected to have
declared their preference for vim^H^H^H their favourite text editor.



--
Avi Greenbury
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