[SOLVED] How to add item per line in linux terminal bash `apt install` command?

Issue

System is Debian 10 with xfce 4.
I usually use \ at the end of line when bash command has multi parameters.Then I tried:

pc@server:~$     apt install -y ./code_1.54.1-1614898113_amd64.deb\  
    ./veracrypt-1.24-Update7-Debian-10-amd64.deb\  
    ./bcompare-4.3.7.25118_amd64.deb\  
    ./dbeaver-ce_21.1.0_amd64_a0667a.deb\  
    ./rstudio-1.4.1106-aqmd64.deb\  

But I didn't get what I want. I know it's ok to use seperate parameters,like:

pc@server:~$  apt install -y ./code_1.54.1-1614898113_amd64.deb ./veracrypt-1.24-Update7-Debian-10-amd64.deb ./bcompare-4.3.7.25118_amd64.deb ./dbeaver-ce_21.1.0_amd64_a0667a.deb ./rstudio-1.4.1106-aqmd64.deb 

Is there any way to set parameters one per line when using bash apt install command?

Solution

What you have should work, with 2 caveats. The backslash must immediately precede the \n, and you probably want to omit the backslash on the last line. eg:

$ cat a.sh
#!/bin/bash

for x; do echo arg: "$x"; done
$ ./a.sh foo\
>   bar\
>   baz\
> 
arg: foo
arg: bar
arg: baz

Note that by retaining the backslash on the last line in the above example, an additional (unescaped) newline is required to terminate the command. Also note that the leading whitespace on subsequent lines is necessary, as the shell will literally ignore the escaped newline and merge the two arguments if there is no leading whitespace. eg:

$ ./a.sh foo\
> bar \
> baz
arg: foobar
arg: baz

Answered By - William Pursell