How do I use variables in single quoted strings?

Question

I am just wondering how I can echo a variable inside single quotes (I am using single quotes as the string has quotation marks in it).

echo 'test text "here_is_some_test_text_$counter" "output"' >> ${FILE}

any help would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

Variables are expanded in double quoted strings, but not in single quoted strings:

 $ name=World   $ echo "Hello $name"  Hello World   $ echo 'Hello $name'  Hello $name 

If you can simply switch quotes, do so.

If you prefer sticking with single quotes to avoid the additional escaping, you can instead mix and match quotes in the same argument:

 $ echo 'single quoted. '"Double quoted. "'Single quoted again.'  single quoted. Double quoted. Single quoted again.   $ echo '"$name" has the value '"$name"  "$name" has the value World 

Applied to your case:

 echo 'test text "here_is_some_test_text_'"$counter"'" "output"' >> "$FILE" 

Answer 2

use printf:

printf 'test text "here_is_some_test_text_%s" "output"\n' "$counter" >> ${FILE}

Answer 3

Use a heredoc:

cat << EOF >> ${FILE}
test text "here_is_some_test_text_$counter" "output"
EOF

Answer 4

The most readable, functional way uses curly braces inside double quotes.

'test text "here_is_some_test_text_'"${counter}"'" "output"' >> "${FILE}"