Escaping spaces in ruby

Question

When I execute the following script block, I get an error:

powershell_script 'uninstall_something' do
   code 'wmic /failfast:on product where "name like 'Something Enterprise(64-bit)'" call uninstall /nointeractive'
   guard_interpreter :powershell_script
end

FATAL: SyntaxError: .\check.rb:6: syntax error, unexpected tCONSTANT, expecting keyword_end
...roduct where "name like 'Something Enterprise(64-bit)'" call un...
                                     ^
.\check.rb:6: syntax error, unexpected tSTRING_BEG, expecting keyword_end
...ike 'Something Enterprise(64-bit)'" call uninstall /nointeracti...
                                     ^

I have tried escaping the spaces but I still get the error. If I execute the same PowerShell command in PowerShell, I don't get any error. What am I missing?

You have to escape your interior single quotes. Your string right now is code 'wmic /failfast:on product where "name like ' and everything after that is a syntax error. — Joe
– Joe, Commented Mar 21, 2018 at 20:54
@Joe If I do that, the script succeeds without any errors but it fails to do what its supposed to do, i.e, uninstall Something Enterprise. code 'wmic /failfast:on product where "name like \'Something Enterprise(64-bit)\'" call uninstall /nointeractive' — spunkyquagga
– spunkyquagga, Commented Mar 21, 2018 at 21:13

tadman · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-21 20:54:26Z

1

You can use %q[...] if both other quotes are already in use:

code %q[wmic /failfast:on product where "name like 'Something Enterprise(64-bit)'" call uninstall /nointeractive]

answered Mar 21, 2018 at 20:54

tadman

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2 Comments

spunkyquagga Over a year ago

If I do that, the script succeeds without any errors but it fails to do what its supposed to do, i.e, uninstall Something Enterprise

tadman Over a year ago

That's a problem, I'm sure, but it's also another question. Stack Overflow tries to keep things focused on one issue at a time. It helps crowd out these questions with lots of other confusion.

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