executable python file sys not accepting '(' character

Question

I am trying to write a python file that takes command line input and performs some actions. The input will consist of a-z, [, ], ( and ). I made the following program just to check that I could keep going:

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys

print str(sys.argv)

I did chmod +x program and tried calling ./program qwerty (abc) [hi] and it returned:

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

Is there any way of changing the program so that it accepted parentheses in arguments?

Note: I have also tried placing square brackets before parentheses and it returns the same error.

() has special meaning to shell - it invokes the enclosed command in a subshell. Enclose your strings in double quotes to remove the special meaning - ./program qwerty "(abc)" "[hi]" — codeforester
– codeforester, Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 4:54
I'm following a spec and won't be able to change the input, edited question above. — jordanc
– jordanc, Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 4:58
It's failing in the shell before the program runs, so no, you can't change it in the program. — Mark Tolonen
– Mark Tolonen, Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 5:17

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-17 05:11:16Z

2

There's nothing the script can do about shell syntax when invoking the script. The shell parses the command line first. You have to escape or quote characters that have special meaning in the shell (which includes most punctuation characters):

./program qwerty \(abc\) '[hi]'

answered Aug 17, 2017 at 5:11

Barmar

789k57 gold badges555 silver badges669 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

executable python file sys not accepting '(' character

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related