fix: resolve shell substitution errors on Debian/dash systems #538
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Fixes 'Bad substitution' errors when editing PHP files containing
\${...} patterns on Debian-based systems where /bin/sh is dash.
Problem:
- Debian/Ubuntu use dash as /bin/sh, not bash
- Dash doesn't support bash-style variable substitution
- PHP code with patterns like \${$variable} triggered errors
- Common in string concatenation for currency: '$' . $amount
Solution:
- parser.ts: Use execFile() instead of exec() to bypass shell entirely
- php.ts: Explicitly use /bin/bash for spawn() and exec() on Unix
- pint.ts: Explicitly use /bin/bash for exec() on Unix
- Consistent approach: undefined for Windows, /bin/bash for Unix
This ensures the extension works correctly in dev containers and
CI environments using Debian/Ubuntu base images.
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Problem
When editing PHP files on Debian-based systems (including dev containers), the extension throws repeated "Bad substitution" errors in the output log.
This occurs because:
dashas/bin/sh, notbash\${$variable}(common for currency formatting) triggers the errorExample error:
2026-01-13 08:27:49.807 [error] /bin/sh: 1: Bad substitutionSolution
exec()toexecFile()to bypass shell interpretation entirely/bin/bashforspawn()andexec()on Unix systems/bin/bashforexec()on Unix systemsConsistent approach across all files:
undefinedfor Windows (let Node choose),/bin/bashfor Unix.Testing
Tested in a Debian 11 dev container with PHP files containing
\${$var}patterns - errors no longer appear.