Pass a group of bash commands to bash function

Question

I want to pass the following group of bash commands

{ echo Apple; echo Banana; }

as an argument to a bash function defined in .bashrc as follows:

BashFunction(){
"$@" | SomeOtherFunction
}

BashFunction '{ echo Apple; echo Banana; }'

But I get this error:

{ echo Apple; echo Banana; }: command not found

If I remove the quotes from the bash function

BashFunction(){
$@ | SomeOtherFunction
}

Then I get this error

{: command not found

@choroba As you mentioned about the danger, are there no safer way? — Porcupine
– Porcupine, Commented Jul 21, 2019 at 12:20
I am using ansi2html to save coloured terminal output as html. As it creates separate file for every command, I though of doing it for a group of relevant commands. Although what you said did work. But what are the dangers and can we make it safer? — Porcupine
– Porcupine, Commented Jul 21, 2019 at 12:54
The danger is you can run uncontrolled commands if the input is coming from a user. Also, quoting will drive you mad. — choroba
– choroba, Commented Jul 21, 2019 at 12:58

choroba · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-21 12:55:57Z

1

What about using an array?

#! /bin/bash
myeval () {
    for command in "$@" ; do
        $command
    done | other_func
}

myeval 'echo Apple' 'echo Banana'

answered Jul 21, 2019 at 12:55

choroba

49.7k7 gold badges92 silver badges119 bronze badges

1 Answer 1