recursive wc on a directory?

bimba17 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006

Hi all,
I need to count the number of lines in all the files under a directory (several levels deep). I am feeling extremely dumb, but I don't know how to do that. Needless to say, I am not a shell script wiz... Any advice?

thanks in advance!

Glenn Arndt · #2 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006

Try this:

Code:

find /topleveldirectory/ -type f -exec wc -l {} \;

cyperfrog · #3 (**permalink**) 06-18-2009

Hi,

How do I get the total number of lines because when I try this command it just lists them endlessly where I only want one number?

Cheers

achenle · #4 (**permalink**) 06-18-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyperfrog

Hi,

How do I get the total number of lines because when I try this command it just lists them endlessly where I only want one number?

Cheers

Code:

wc -l `find /dir/name -type f`

Note that those are backticks, and also be aware that if there are too many files you can exceed your shell's argument limitations.

ghostdog74 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-18-2009

this is an old thread.
beside exceeding shells argument limitations, you solution does not cater for files with white spaces.

methyl · #6 (**permalink**) 06-19-2009

Code:

find . -type f -print|while read FILENAME
do
      cat "${FILENAME}"
done | wc -l

pludi · #7 (**permalink**) 06-19-2009

Simple and fast:

Code:

find /topleveldirectory/ -type f -exec wc -l {} \; | awk '{total += $1} END{print total}'

No loops, no whitespace problems, no unnecessary cat

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