variable content is different than the output of the assigned command

Question

I'm having a problem when trying to echo a variable. The echo output of the variable is different than the output of the command. Why any thing like this happen? I suppose it may have something to do with the text, since this problem didn't appear when applying this on a different text.

me@myPC:~/some/directory/$ grep "frag" link | awk '{print$2}'
KETENE
OH
H2O
HCCO
CO
CH2OH
H
CH(OH)CO
(HCO)2
HCO
CH2O
CH3O
CO2
CH3
me@myPC:~/some/directory/$ frag_list=$(grep "frag" link | awk '{print$2}')
me@myPC:~/some/directory/$ echo $frag_list 
 CH3O)2CO

This is a multi-line output string and so what happens when you echo "$frag_list" — Raman Sailopal, Oct 06 '17 at 09:53
And your file probably has CRLF line-delimiters as opposed to normal LF ones. — Stéphane Chazelas, Oct 06 '17 at 10:20
Here, you probably want frag_list=$(dos2unix < link | awk '/frag/{print $2}'); printf '%s\n' "$frag_list" — Stéphane Chazelas, Oct 06 '17 at 10:21

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 06 '17 at 12:37

0

frag_list=`cat link | grep "frag" | awk '{print$2}'`

should do it

answered Oct 06 '17 at 12:37

Alex Austin

185

variable content is different than the output of the assigned command

1 Answers1