I want a script to execute the command: ls -alst "dir with spaces"
The script looks like this : #! /bin/bash PARAMS_FOR_LS="-alst \"dir with spaces\"" echo $PARAMS_FOR_LS ls $PARAMS_FOR_LS when I execute the script: bash -x script.sh I get: + PARAMS_FOR_LS='-alst "dir with spaces"' + echo -alst '"dir' with 'spaces"' -alst "dir with spaces" + ls -alst '"dir' with 'spaces"' ls: cannot access "dir: No such file or directory ls: cannot access with: No such file or directory ls: cannot access spaces": No such file or directory why the extra quotes ??
