(Nautilus Scripts) $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS; have problems with space

Question

So the script is:

#!/bin/bash

for line in $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS; do
   if [[ "$line" = "" || "$line" = " " ]]; then
      exit
   else
      unzip "$line" -d "temp"
   fi
done

It works well and unzips the file. But if the file is named with a space (eg: Leon - 1994.zip) it will not work and the $line will be

1st time: /home/citybong/Downloads/Leon

2nd time: -

3rd time: 1994.zip

Edit: I fount a link http://g-scripts.sourceforge.net/faq.php for the question: "My script can't handle multiple files/files with spaces" but i am kinda newbie to bash scripting and i can't understand their solutions

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 14 '13 at 14:47

10

IFS is by default set to space, that's why your string is being divided into spaces. Just set it to the newline with the following code:

IFS_BAK=$IFS
IFS="
"

for line in $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS; do
    whatever $line
done

IFS=$IFS_BAK

answered Jan 14 '13 at 14:47

hytromo

4,904
3
33
63

Doesn't work with Caja in Ubuntu Mate 14.04 – NicolasSmith Sep 26 '17 at 18:02

Janek37 · Answer 2 · 2013-02-18T09:35:12.283

5

You don't need to mess with IFS:

echo "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS" | while read filename; do
    unzip "$filename" -d temp
done

I had a similar problem and it turns out that echo preserves newlines in double quotes, but without quotes changes them to spaces.

edited Feb 18 '13 at 09:35

answered Feb 18 '13 at 09:09

Janek37

51
2

Please add more details to your answer – Anwar Feb 18 '13 at 09:27
Doesn't work in Caja of ubuntu mate 14.04 – NicolasSmith Sep 26 '17 at 18:04
Worked for me in plain Ubuntu 22 – yPhil Sep 06 '22 at 17:49

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 12 '15 at 09:39

Using $@ instead of $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS in Nautilus scripts could solve the problem with new line separators (which are used as delimiters in $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS and $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS).

So, the code will look like:

#!/bin/bash

for line in "$@"; do
   if [[ "$line" = "" || "$line" = " " ]]; then
      exit
   else
      unzip "$line" -d "temp"
   fi
done

Also, this is handy when we need just pass selection to another app:

#!/bin/sh

baobab "$@"

Doesn't work with Caja in ubuntu mate 14.04 – NicolasSmith Sep 26 '17 at 18:06 — NicolasSmith, Sep 26 '17 at 18:06

score -2 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 14 '13 at 14:29

-2

Put single quotes around the variable name, like so:

#!/bin/bash

for line in '$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS'; do
   if [[ "$line" = "" || "$line" = " " ]]; then
      exit
   else
      unzip "$line" -d "temp"
   fi
done

answered Jan 14 '13 at 14:29

Clive van Hilten

1,574
12
13

1

$line becomes $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS – Leon Vitanos Jan 14 '13 at 14:33
Try double quotes then - I may have the wrong type listed in my response. – Clive van Hilten Jan 14 '13 at 14:45
Xmm with double quotes the $line takes the fullpath of the file but with a new empty line, so the unzipping fails. line = $(echo $line | tr '\n') didn't help. Hakermanias solution solves the problem ;) – Leon Vitanos Jan 14 '13 at 15:00

(Nautilus Scripts) $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS; have problems with space

4 Answers4