quote-strings.md

copyright	lastupdated	keywords	subcollection
years 2020, 2021	2021-03-18	cli, quotes, quotation, quotation marks, strings, double quotation mark, single quotation mark, double quote, single quote, json, string	cli

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Using quotation marks with strings in {{site.data.keyword.cloud_notm}} CLI

{: #quote-strings}

Depending on the operating system that you're running {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} Command Line Interface on, you use either single or double quotation marks in the command. Linux™, macOS, the Windows™ command prompt (cmd.exe), and Windows™ PowerShell have different quotation-escaping requirements when you run commands. This difference impacts how you pass strings on the {{site.data.keyword.cloud}} command line, including JSON content. {: shortdesc}

For Linux, macOS, or PowerShell, use single quotation marks ('). For the Windows command prompt, use double quotation marks ("). A JSON string requires double quotation marks around each name and value in the JSON structure. For more information, see the following examples.

Windows command prompt

{: #quote-windows}

For a Windows command prompt, use double quotation marks to surround the JSON data structure. Additionally, you must escape each double quotation mark that is inside the JSON structure by using a backslash before each double quotation mark.

ibmcloud resource service-instance-create my-service-instance db-service lite us-south -p "{\"units\":1}"

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Linux or macOS

{: #quote-linux}

For Linux or macOS, use single quotation marks to surround the JSON data structure.

ibmcloud resource service-instance-create my-service-instance db-service lite us-south -p '{"units":1}'

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Windows PowerShell

{: #quote-powershell}

For PowerShell, use single quotation marks to surround the JSON data structure. Additionally, you must escape each double quotation mark that is inside the JSON structure by using a backslash before each double quotation mark.

ibmcloud resource service-instance-create my-service-instance db-service lite us-south -p '{\"units\":1}'

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