Proper method for addressing a user's home directory











up vote
2
down vote

favorite












I am making a dialog menu for an Ubuntu VPN that is calling up other scripts like this:



cd

cd myrepo/gui

./filetocall.sh


The first cd is to ensure the directory for the second cd is always home.



Is there a better method I can use to address this in one line? (Without specifically naming the user in the path, so it can be installed and used on a few devices?)






command-line bash home-directory







share|improve this question




















  • 2




    Dont forget to cd || fail !
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago






  • 1




    Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












I am making a dialog menu for an Ubuntu VPN that is calling up other scripts like this:



cd

cd myrepo/gui

./filetocall.sh


The first cd is to ensure the directory for the second cd is always home.



Is there a better method I can use to address this in one line? (Without specifically naming the user in the path, so it can be installed and used on a few devices?)






command-line bash home-directory







share|improve this question




















  • 2




    Dont forget to cd || fail !
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago






  • 1




    Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago













up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











I am making a dialog menu for an Ubuntu VPN that is calling up other scripts like this:



cd

cd myrepo/gui

./filetocall.sh


The first cd is to ensure the directory for the second cd is always home.



Is there a better method I can use to address this in one line? (Without specifically naming the user in the path, so it can be installed and used on a few devices?)






command-line bash home-directory







share|improve this question















I am making a dialog menu for an Ubuntu VPN that is calling up other scripts like this:



cd

cd myrepo/gui

./filetocall.sh


The first cd is to ensure the directory for the second cd is always home.



Is there a better method I can use to address this in one line? (Without specifically naming the user in the path, so it can be installed and used on a few devices?)






command-line bash home-directory




command-line bash home-directory






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited yesterday









wjandrea

7,73642258




7,73642258










asked 2 days ago









tREEs

18613




18613








  • 2




    Dont forget to cd || fail !
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago






  • 1




    Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago














  • 2




    Dont forget to cd || fail !
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago






  • 1




    Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago








2




2




Dont forget to cd || fail !
– D. Ben Knoble
2 days ago




Dont forget to cd || fail !
– D. Ben Knoble
2 days ago




1




1




Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
– wjandrea
2 days ago




Related, maybe a duplicate: How do I cd into a directory in the home folder?
– wjandrea
2 days ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
7
down vote



accepted










~ (tilde) or $HOME can be used for getting the current user's home directory, so you could do:



cd ~/myrepo/gui

cd "$HOME/myrepo/gui"


Or even execute it directly:



~/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh

"$HOME"/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh





share|improve this answer








New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.














  • 2




    If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
    – Kevin Johnson
    2 days ago






  • 2




    @KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago


















up vote
8
down vote













Use the same method used by login, which avoids being fooled by redefinitions of $HOME: 



homedir="$(getent passwd $( /usr/bin/id -u ) | cut -d: -f6)"

cd "$homedir"





share|improve this answer























  • Lovely code, thankyou!
    – tREEs
    2 days ago






  • 1




    What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago






  • 4




    Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
    – Federico Poloni
    2 days ago












  • @FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago


















up vote
4
down vote













cd ~/myrepo/gui will do the trick, or a little longer: cd $HOME/myrepo/gui.



~ is a shell shortcut for users home directory, $HOME is a variable set by th shell for the same.






share|improve this answer

















  • 5




    Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
    – Aviendha
    2 days ago











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3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
7
down vote



accepted










~ (tilde) or $HOME can be used for getting the current user's home directory, so you could do:



cd ~/myrepo/gui

cd "$HOME/myrepo/gui"


Or even execute it directly:



~/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh

"$HOME"/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh





share|improve this answer








New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.














  • 2




    If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
    – Kevin Johnson
    2 days ago






  • 2




    @KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago















up vote
7
down vote



accepted










~ (tilde) or $HOME can be used for getting the current user's home directory, so you could do:



cd ~/myrepo/gui

cd "$HOME/myrepo/gui"


Or even execute it directly:



~/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh

"$HOME"/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh





share|improve this answer








New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.














  • 2




    If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
    – Kevin Johnson
    2 days ago






  • 2




    @KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago













up vote
7
down vote



accepted







up vote
7
down vote



accepted






~ (tilde) or $HOME can be used for getting the current user's home directory, so you could do:



cd ~/myrepo/gui

cd "$HOME/myrepo/gui"


Or even execute it directly:



~/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh

"$HOME"/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh





share|improve this answer








New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









~ (tilde) or $HOME can be used for getting the current user's home directory, so you could do:



cd ~/myrepo/gui

cd "$HOME/myrepo/gui"


Or even execute it directly:



~/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh

"$HOME"/myrepo/gui/filetocall.sh






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer






New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered 2 days ago









Aviendha

883




883




New contributor




Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Aviendha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 2




    If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
    – Kevin Johnson
    2 days ago






  • 2




    @KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago














  • 2




    If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
    – Kevin Johnson
    2 days ago






  • 2




    @KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago








2




2




If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
– Kevin Johnson
2 days ago




If filetocall.sh expects the CWD to be ~/myrepo/gui then executing it directly could cause issues. Doing the cd and the executable call in two steps would prevent that.
– Kevin Johnson
2 days ago




2




2




@KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
– kasperd
2 days ago




@KevinJohnson That's true, though I would consider that to be a bug in filetocall.sh.
– kasperd
2 days ago












up vote
8
down vote













Use the same method used by login, which avoids being fooled by redefinitions of $HOME: 



homedir="$(getent passwd $( /usr/bin/id -u ) | cut -d: -f6)"

cd "$homedir"





share|improve this answer























  • Lovely code, thankyou!
    – tREEs
    2 days ago






  • 1




    What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago






  • 4




    Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
    – Federico Poloni
    2 days ago












  • @FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago















up vote
8
down vote













Use the same method used by login, which avoids being fooled by redefinitions of $HOME: 



homedir="$(getent passwd $( /usr/bin/id -u ) | cut -d: -f6)"

cd "$homedir"





share|improve this answer























  • Lovely code, thankyou!
    – tREEs
    2 days ago






  • 1




    What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago






  • 4




    Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
    – Federico Poloni
    2 days ago












  • @FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago













up vote
8
down vote










up vote
8
down vote









Use the same method used by login, which avoids being fooled by redefinitions of $HOME: 



homedir="$(getent passwd $( /usr/bin/id -u ) | cut -d: -f6)"

cd "$homedir"





share|improve this answer














Use the same method used by login, which avoids being fooled by redefinitions of $HOME: 



homedir="$(getent passwd $( /usr/bin/id -u ) | cut -d: -f6)"

cd "$homedir"






share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 2 days ago

























answered 2 days ago









waltinator

21.6k74169




21.6k74169












  • Lovely code, thankyou!
    – tREEs
    2 days ago






  • 1




    What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago






  • 4




    Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
    – Federico Poloni
    2 days ago












  • @FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago


















  • Lovely code, thankyou!
    – tREEs
    2 days ago






  • 1




    What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
    – wjandrea
    2 days ago






  • 4




    Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
    – Federico Poloni
    2 days ago












  • @FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
    – kasperd
    2 days ago
















Lovely code, thankyou!
– tREEs
2 days ago




Lovely code, thankyou!
– tREEs
2 days ago




1




1




What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
– wjandrea
2 days ago




What about redefinitions of $USER? Maybe homedir="$(getent passwd -- "$(whoami)" | cut -d: -f6)" ?
– wjandrea
2 days ago




4




4




Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
– Federico Poloni
2 days ago






Well, it's not like I redefine $HOME often, but when I do it, it's precisely because I want scripts like this one to use that directory instead...
– Federico Poloni
2 days ago














@FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
– kasperd
2 days ago




@FedericoPoloni For exactly that reason I voted on Aviendha's answer.
– kasperd
2 days ago










up vote
4
down vote













cd ~/myrepo/gui will do the trick, or a little longer: cd $HOME/myrepo/gui.



~ is a shell shortcut for users home directory, $HOME is a variable set by th shell for the same.






share|improve this answer

















  • 5




    Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
    – Aviendha
    2 days ago















up vote
4
down vote













cd ~/myrepo/gui will do the trick, or a little longer: cd $HOME/myrepo/gui.



~ is a shell shortcut for users home directory, $HOME is a variable set by th shell for the same.






share|improve this answer

















  • 5




    Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
    – Aviendha
    2 days ago













up vote
4
down vote










up vote
4
down vote









cd ~/myrepo/gui will do the trick, or a little longer: cd $HOME/myrepo/gui.



~ is a shell shortcut for users home directory, $HOME is a variable set by th shell for the same.






share|improve this answer












cd ~/myrepo/gui will do the trick, or a little longer: cd $HOME/myrepo/gui.



~ is a shell shortcut for users home directory, $HOME is a variable set by th shell for the same.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 days ago









Soren A

3,2151824




3,2151824








  • 5




    Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
    – Aviendha
    2 days ago














  • 5




    Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
    – Aviendha
    2 days ago








5




5




Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
– Aviendha
2 days ago




Technically, it's the other way around - ~ is a shortcut for $HOME. If you set HOME to something, then ~ will take that value (test with (HOME=foo; echo ~) for example).
– Aviendha
2 days ago


















 

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