Bash: Merge foldername from variable with filename

Question

First I write a configfile with all my parameters like this

path="/home/test/"

I name it test.conf.

Then I write a shell script with this content, name it test, and make it executable with chmod +x.

#!/bin/bash
#read the config file
. /home/test/test.conf

#cat the file /home/test/test
cat `$path`test #This line is the problem

I get this output

./test/test: line 3: /home/test/: Is a directory
cat: test: No such file or directory

What I would like is that it shows me the content of the file /home/test/test.

How do I write this script correctly, so that it doesn't make a new line after the file path?

Solution

`` and $() is used for command execution, not for substituting it for variable content. So bash tries to execute varaible meaning in `` and returns the error that it is a directory.

Just write cat ${path}test and it will work in the way you want.

For more information read about bash variables and command substitution.

Comments

[enzotib]

You should use double quotes ("$path"), not backquotes.