command substitution but without breaking output into multiple arguments
cd "$(xsel)"seems to handle all special characters (including $ and spaces).
My test string was boo*;cd.*($\: $_
$ mkdir "$(xsel)"$ lsboo*;cd.*($\: $_$ file boo\*\;cd.\*\(\$\\\:\ \$_/boo*;cd.*($\: $_/: directory$ cd "$(xsel)"$ pwd/tmp/boo*;cd.*($\: $_
Have you tried:
cd "`xsel`"That should do the job, unless you have dollars($) or back-slashes (\) in your path.
If you aren't doing this programmatically, most terminals in Linux let you paste from the clipboard with a middle-click on your mouse. Of course, you'll still need to put quotes before and after your paste, like @dave suggests.