On: Escaping strings in Bash using !:q

[Tepix]

Even better, put this in your ~/.bashrc

    function bashquote () {
        printf '%q' "$(cat)"
        echo
    }

[asicsp → Tepix]

Golfed one-liner

    bashquote() { printf '%q\n' "$(cat)" ; }

[KMnO4 → asicsp]

You should contact your administrator if you are still paying per-line for your .bashrc

[dotancohen → KMnO4]

I think he's just saving on keystokes because those Model M's are getting hard to find.

[Tepix → asicsp]

Can't we get rid of cat somehow?

[kps → Tepix]

Yes,

    bashquote() { printf '%q\n' "$(</dev/stdin)"; }

Bash treats the string "/dev/stdin" as magic, so that works even if /dev/stdin doesn't exist. However, bash (unlike ksh) spawns a subshell for $(</dev/stdin), so using cat is actually lighter. (Also, it's not clear to me why $(<&0) doesn't work in bash.)