bash - How to escape single quotes within single quoted strings

Question

Let's say, you have a Bash alias like:

alias rxvt='urxvt'

which works fine.

However:

alias rxvt='urxvt -fg '#111111' -bg '#111111''

won't work, and neither will:

alias rxvt='urxvt -fg '#111111' -bg '#111111''

So how do you end up matching up opening and closing quotes inside a string once you have escaped quotes?

alias rxvt='urxvt -fg'''#111111''' -bg '''#111111'''

seems ungainly although it would represent the same string if you're allowed to concatenate them like that.

Answer 1

If you really want to use single quotes in the outermost layer, remember that you can glue both kinds of quotation. Example:

 alias rxvt='urxvt -fg '"'"'#111111'"'"' -bg '"'"'#111111'"'"
 #                     ^^^^^       ^^^^^     ^^^^^       ^^^^
 #                     12345       12345     12345       1234

Explanation of how '"'"' is interpreted as just ':

1. ' End first quotation which uses single quotes.
2. " Start second quotation, using double-quotes.
3. ' Quoted character.
4. " End second quotation, using double-quotes.
5. ' Start third quotation, using single quotes.

If you do not place any whitespaces between (1) and (2), or between (4) and (5), the shell will interpret that string as a one long word.