How to use Python variables in Google Colab terminal command?

Question

I have a cell with this content:

import os
os.mkdir('123')
name = '123'
!rm -r name

I want to pass the value of the variable name to the last line. How can I do this?

Solution 1

Try $. It will substitute the python variable.

!rm -r $name

You may need to use $name\.txt or {name}.txt in some cases.

Solution 2

Use {}.

myvar = "/test"
!cd {myvar}

According to https://colab.research.google.com/github/jakevdp/PythonDataScienceHandbook/blob/master/notebooks/01.05-IPython-And-Shell-Commands.ipynb#scrollTo=q-zpo3vGM5Jv