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bashshopt

Script not working even after using shopt

i am using linux and the below is script i am trying. I am trying to get the latest modified file in a folder:

#!/bin/bash
shopt -s extglob
name=$(echo *(om[1]))
echo $name

i am expecting filename instead *(om[1]) is echoed. As such the script does not give any error due to using shopt.

i try the command on commandline it gives the filename as output.

% cd other
% echo *(om[1])
mumbai123.txt

why echo *(om[1]) is working on commandline but not in bash script.

Solution

  • You are confusing zsh glob qualifiers with extended patterns. In zsh (your interactive shell), the expression *(om[1]) applies the o and m qualifiers to the pattern *. In bash, the extended pattern *(om[1]) matches zero or more occurrences of the pattern om[1] (which matches the literal string "om1"). Since there is no file matching that pattern, it is passed literally to echo, which outputs it to be captured as the value of name.