tags: bash eval
title: Examples of eval in Bash

# Defining Functions With Variable Names
I use this to define shorthands for ssh'ing to hosts around my network
```bash
ssh_shortcut() {
  local SH="$1"
  local HOST="${2-$SH}"
  shift 2
  eval "$SH() { ssh \"$HOST\" $* \"\$@\"; }"
}

for s in m1 m2 m3 m4; do
  ssh_shortcut "$s"
done
ssh_shortcut m5 mandy
ssh_shortcut m6 micha
ssh_shortcut m6l micha ls
```
which then means that `m1` will ssh into `m1`, and `m5` will ssh into `mandy`,
and `m6l` will ssh into `micha` and run `ls`. There is a slight shortcoming with
quoting in that the arguments to be passed to ssh cannot include spaces and such.