This command succeeds
$ PS1='$(date +%s) $ ' 1391380852 $
However if I add a newline it fails
$ PS1='$(date +%s)\n$ ' bash: command substitution: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `)' bash: command substitution: line 1: `date +%s)'
If I use backticks it works
$ PS1='`date +%s`\n$ ' 1391381008 $
but backticks are discouraged. So what is causing this error?
GNU bash, version 4.2.45(6)-release
You can disambiguate the parsing easily, to prevent hitting any such bug (though I can't reproduce it myself):
This
$'\n'
syntax parses to a literal newline character, whereas'\n'
parses to a string containing a two-character\n
escape sequence.For more info on how
$''
differs from''
(expanding backslash-escaped sequences) refer to the Bash Hackers Wiki.I had a similar issue with
.git-prompt
when I tried to include it in my PS1 on bash (MSYS2) on Windows. The problem is the\n
, if I remove it everything run smoothly but I want to break-line.By the way on Linux everything is working fine.
The
bash
is run is:4.3.42(5)-release (x86_64-pc-msys)
Old, problematic PS1:
Fixed:
Simplified version (no colors, copy-paste-edit it):
Cheers Charles Duffy finding the problem!