Running a python script via crontab does not accept parameters containing %

I have a python script that accepts custom parameters via sys and getopt modules. The cron job looks like:

* * * * * /HS/py/py_venv/venv/bin/python /HS/py/py_venv/src/SP/yh_scrape_product_info.py -c TSX.AP% -vpn False

I have narrowed down this problem to the first argument TSX.AP%.

This is a parameter that I take to execute a DB query.

If I add the wildcard % inside my script, therefore only passing TSX.AP to cron, the crojob works. This also works if i paste the command directly inside the terminal like this:

/HS/py/py_venv/venv/bin/python /HS/py/py_venv/src/SP/yh_scrape_product_info.py -c TSX.AP% -vpn False

Now I am thinking to add another argument to specify wether the wildcard needs to be added or not, but I would like to understand if there is a better solution and also this problem made me lose almost the whole day troubleshooting I really want to understand what it happening!

Thanks in advance!

Answer

From man 5 crontab:

   The ``sixth'' field (the rest of the line) specifies the command to  be
   run.   The  entire  command  portion  of the line, up to a newline or %
   character, will be executed by /bin/sh or by the shell specified in the
   SHELL  variable of the crontab file.  Percent-signs (%) in the command,
   unless escaped with backslash (), will be changed into newline charac‐
   ters,  and  all  data  after the first % will be sent to the command as
   standard input. There is no way to split a  single  command  line  onto
   multiple lines, like the shell's trailing "".

In particular: Percent-signs (%) in the command, unless escaped with backslash (),

A simple work-around would be to put /HS/py/py_venv/venv/bin/python /HS/py/py_venv/src/SP/yh_scrape_product_info.py -c TSX.AP% -vpn False in a bash script and run that from cron.