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When I do this in a shell: $ /bin/sh -c 'echo hello world' hello world it's my understanding that I'm running a process with argv = {"/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world"}. That is, the quotes c...
#2: Post edited
- When I do this in a shell:
- ```plain
- $ /bin/sh -c 'echo hello world'
- hello world
- ```
it's my understanding that I'm running a process with `argv = {"/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world"}` That is, the quotes cause all three words to be passed as one argument to `sh`, and that instance of `sh` is responsible for splitting it on spaces before executing it.- I'm trying to have a C program do the same thing. I tried this:
- ```c
- #include <unistd.h>
- int main() {
- execl("/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL);
- }
- ```
- but for some reason the shell seems to parse its arguments differently when called this way:
- ```plain
- $ ./a.out
- -c: echo hello world: No such file or directory
- ```
- That is, it's getting `argv[2] = "echo hello world"`, and rather than parsing that as a shell command, deciding that must all be the `argv[0]` of the subprocess it's been asked to start.
- My `/bin/sh` is `bash`. Using `/bin/bash` explicitly, or `/bin/zsh`, does the same thing, but busybox `sh` seems to do what I expect:
- ```c
- $ cat /tmp/what.c
- #include <unistd.h>
- int main() {
- execl("/bin/busybox", "sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL);
- }
- $ gcc /tmp/what.c && ./a.out
- hello world
- ```
- Why (and for that matter, _how_) do `bash` and `zsh` behave this way? How can I get them to not do that?
- When I do this in a shell:
- ```plain
- $ /bin/sh -c 'echo hello world'
- hello world
- ```
- it's my understanding that I'm running a process with `argv = {"/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world"}`. That is, the quotes cause all three words to be passed as one argument to `sh`, and that instance of `sh` is responsible for splitting it on spaces before executing it.
- I'm trying to have a C program do the same thing. I tried this:
- ```c
- #include <unistd.h>
- int main() {
- execl("/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL);
- }
- ```
- but for some reason the shell seems to parse its arguments differently when called this way:
- ```plain
- $ ./a.out
- -c: echo hello world: No such file or directory
- ```
- That is, it's getting `argv[2] = "echo hello world"`, and rather than parsing that as a shell command, deciding that must all be the `argv[0]` of the subprocess it's been asked to start.
- My `/bin/sh` is `bash`. Using `/bin/bash` explicitly, or `/bin/zsh`, does the same thing, but busybox `sh` seems to do what I expect:
- ```c
- $ cat /tmp/what.c
- #include <unistd.h>
- int main() {
- execl("/bin/busybox", "sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL);
- }
- $ gcc /tmp/what.c && ./a.out
- hello world
- ```
- Why (and for that matter, _how_) do `bash` and `zsh` behave this way? How can I get them to not do that?
#1: Initial revision
Why does bash seem to parse `sh -c` commands differently when called via `execl`?
When I do this in a shell: ```plain $ /bin/sh -c 'echo hello world' hello world ``` it's my understanding that I'm running a process with `argv = {"/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world"}` That is, the quotes cause all three words to be passed as one argument to `sh`, and that instance of `sh` is responsible for splitting it on spaces before executing it. I'm trying to have a C program do the same thing. I tried this: ```c #include <unistd.h> int main() { execl("/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL); } ``` but for some reason the shell seems to parse its arguments differently when called this way: ```plain $ ./a.out -c: echo hello world: No such file or directory ``` That is, it's getting `argv[2] = "echo hello world"`, and rather than parsing that as a shell command, deciding that must all be the `argv[0]` of the subprocess it's been asked to start. My `/bin/sh` is `bash`. Using `/bin/bash` explicitly, or `/bin/zsh`, does the same thing, but busybox `sh` seems to do what I expect: ```c $ cat /tmp/what.c #include <unistd.h> int main() { execl("/bin/busybox", "sh", "-c", "echo hello world", NULL); } $ gcc /tmp/what.c && ./a.out hello world ``` Why (and for that matter, _how_) do `bash` and `zsh` behave this way? How can I get them to not do that?