Rick Pasotto wrote: > On Sun, Oct 21, 2007 at 12:03:30PM -0700, David Liontooth wrote: >> >> I'd like to use the continuation character \ in a cron job, but I get an >> error when I do. >> >> I use "crontab -e" to edit the crontab and have this sort of thing: >> >> 30 5 * * * script varable variable \ >> variable-text >> >> when I try to save, I get this: >> >> crontab: installing new crontab >> "/tmp/crontab.kZ7WHF/crontab":122: bad minute >> errors in crontab file, can't install >> >> Does anyone know if there's a way to get cron to accept a continuation >> character? > > man (5) crontab > > The ``sixth'' field (the rest of the line) specifies the command to > be run. The entire command portion of the line, up to a newline > or % character, will be executed by /bin/sh or by the shell specified > in the SHELL variable of the crontab file. Percent-signs (%) in the > command, unless escaped with backslash (\), will be changed into > newline characters, and all data after the first % will be sent to > the command as standard input. There is no way to split a single > command line onto multiple lines, like the shell's trailing "\". >
Thanks! Really appreciate the info. I searched the man pages for 'continuation' but missed this. Too bad! Cheers, Dave -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]