Re: continuation character in cron jobs

[Rick Pasotto <rick@niof.net>]

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 "\".

-- 
"Exhilaration is that feeling you get just after a great idea hits you,
 and just before you realize what's wrong with it." -- Anonymous
    Rick Pasotto    rick@niof.net    http://www.niof.net