Am 11. Dec, 2007 schwätzte Matrix Mole so: > der.hans wrote: >> Am 11. Dec, 2007 schwätzte Patrick Fleming, EA so: >> >>> BACKUPDIRNAME=`date +Y%m%d%` #these are backtics - >> >> Use $( ) format for bash and ksh scripts :). >> >> BACKUPDIRNAME=$( date +Y%m%d% ) > > > I've heard this a couple times now, but never had anyone explain why the > $( ) format is preferred over the back quote in bash scripts. I have > begun to try remembering to use the $( ) format in my scripts now, but I > still find myself using back quotes quite often. So why is back quotes > not considered a good method of shelling out a command to the system? I use it and teach it because it's easier to read. It's also nestable. locate mp3 ls $( locate mp3 ) 2>/dev/null # makes sure they still exist for i in $( ls $( locate mp3 ) 2>/dev/null ); do mp32ogg $i && rm $i; done A pretty bogus example that could be done in better ways, but it shows the nested use of subshells :). ciao, der.hans -- # https://www.LuftHans.com/ http://www.CiscoLearning.org/ # Knowledge is useless unless it's shared. - der.hans