Split function not working in UNIX -

i'm trying run split on file filename has spaces in it.

i can't seem work. have following

source_file="test file.txt" split -l 100 $source_file

now i've tried enclosing $source_file in " no luck:

split -l 100 "\""$source_file"\""

or even

split -l 100 '"'$source_file'"'

i'm still getting:

usage: split [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file [name]]    or: split -b number[k|m] [-a suffix_length] [file [name]]

you're trying hard! single set of double quotes suffice:

split -l 100 "$source_file"

you want arguments split this:

-l 100 test file.txt

the commands trying both yield these arguments:

-l 100 "test file.txt"

as in, equivalent incorrect command:

split -l 100 '"test' 'file.txt"'

Aleternatvie