tail-ing a filename that is a date

Question

I am creating a logfile from kermit named the current date (which is in the format of DD MMM YYYY - which can not be changed AFAIK), and using the file name as today's date.

I then have a Bash script to read the file and I want to tail -n1 the file.

if I do

    filename=$(date +%d\ %b\ %Y) && echo $filename

I get

    23 Feb 2015

which is what I want and expect. However if I then do

    filename=$(date +%d\ %b\ %Y) && tail -n1 $filename

I get

    tail: cannot open `23' for reading: No such file or directory
    tail: cannot open `Feb' for reading: No such file or directory
    tail: cannot open `2015' for reading: No such file or directory

I am not sure what is causing this, probably down to the the way I have string formatted I guess since I get the same if I use tail or cat?

It is better to ask a direct question like "What causes tail to give these errors and how do I solve this?" than to ask for me specifically to offer assistance (I'm not always online, nor do I know everything). — anyone, Feb 24 '15 at 15:45

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '15 at 11:51

1

Double-quote your variables. Double-quote your variables. Double-quote your variables.

filename=$(date +'%d %b %Y') && tail -n1 "$filename"

answered Feb 23 '15 at 11:51

Chris Davies

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Many thanks! - it worked perfectly !! - and thanks for the explanation! - will try to remember in future! – Chummers Feb 23 '15 at 12:00
2

ITYM ＤＯＵＢＬＥ－ＱＵＯＴＥＹＯＵＲＶＡＲＩＡＢＬＥＳ！ – Stéphane Chazelas Feb 23 '15 at 12:03

tail-ing a filename that is a date

1 Answers1