On Wed, Jun 18, 2025 at 04:57:01 +0300, nkkralev--- via Bug reports for the GNU Bourne Again SHell wrote: > to occur.]#test1 > /bin/bash -c 'set -e ; /bin/echo $(ls /doesnt_exist) ; echo print1' > #and the stdout/stderr displayed is: > ls: cannot access '/doesnt_exist': No such file or directoryprint1
set -e is NOT an error catching mechanism. The fact that a command substitution used as an argument to an outer command had a nonzero exit status is not relevant to set -e. Only the outer command's exit status matters. hobbit:~$ bash -e -c 'true $(false); echo survived' survived hobbit:~$ bash -e -c 'false $(false); echo survived' hobbit:~$ bash -e -c 'false $(true); echo survived' hobbit:~$ set -e may have originally been conceived as an error catching mechanism, but the implementation does not conform to that idea, never has, and never will. Now, nearly five decades later, set -e is just a historic artifact, and its behavior is specified by a committee to try to provide backward compatibility for scripts that use it. It is a TERRIBLE idea to use it in any new scripts. You should perform your own error checking instead. Yes, by hand. There is no other way that actually works. If you don't like that, then use a better programming language. See also <https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/105>.
