Finding the Latest file in a Dir


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting Finding the Latest file in a Dir
# 1  
Old 06-24-2011
Finding the Latest file in a Dir

Hi Everyone,

I am writing a shell script and I am struck here:

I need to find the latest file in a directory depending upon the date.

For example:

The files in the directory are:

Filename_bo_20110619
Filename_bo_20110620
Filename_bo_20110621
Filename_bo_20110622

So here, I want to pick up the lastest file ( Filename_bo_20110622) in the directory.

but Todays Date: 20110624. and the file doen't exists in the dir for todays date so I need to pick up the latest file that exists in the dir.

Could someone please help me out in this. I want to integrate the logic in the shell script.

Any ideas would be really appreciated.
# 2  
Old 06-24-2011
Code:
ls -t | grep "^Filename_bo_20" | head -n 1

# 3  
Old 06-24-2011
The filenames come out in date order in a normal "ls".
Code:
ls -1d Filename_bo_* 2>/dev/null | tail -1

The "2>/dev/null" redirects the error channel if there are no files.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Shell Programming and Scripting

Finding latest file in dir but getting syntax errors

I believe there are couple of syntax issues in my script, couldn't find them :( can someone help me with fixing it to make it work. cd /abcde/ #get the latest filename excluding subdirs filename=`ls -ltr | grep ^- | tail -1 | awk '{print $8}'` #get system date and file timestamp and... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: simpltyansh
3 Replies

2. Shell Programming and Scripting

Need help with finding the latest files

Hi, Actually i got a client requirment and i need experts help here. we have 30 parent directories and in that we have so many subdirectories and files. i want to find only latest timestamp files with out touching subdirectories and need to redirect the latest files into some other... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: lkeswar
3 Replies

3. Shell Programming and Scripting

Finding the Latest record

Dear All, I have getting data as follows, the second field signifies table name and last one is time stamp. I have return always latest record based on time stamp. Could you please help me ? I/P ==== ... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: srikanth38
1 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

Help with finding the latest modified version of a file within directories

I am trying to look into multiple directories and pluck out the latest version of a specific file, regardless of where it sits within the directory structure. Ex: The file is a .xls file and could have a depth within the directory of anywhere from 1-5 Working directory - Folder1... (6 Replies)
Discussion started by: co21ss
6 Replies

5. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

[Solved] Finding the latest file in a directory

Hi All, I am using the below command to find the latest file in a dir: ls -tr $v_sftphomedir/$v_sourcefile |tail -1 or ls -t1 $v_sftphomedir/$v_sourcefile |head -1 and the outpur returned is below: /home/cobr_sftp/var/controllingload/Backup/Dbrwds_Div_1796050246.txt I need only the... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: abhi_123
5 Replies

6. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Finding latest dir based on it's name (yyyymmdd)

Hi Folks, As part of my application I need to find out what the latest directory based on the name of that directory (not it's file system timestamp). Example: I have a directory which contains below directories (each of while contains files etc) 20120000/ 20120000/ latest (symbolic link to... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: DOWD_R
5 Replies

7. Red Hat

To find the LATEST file from a dir on REMOTE machine and SCP to local machine?

Hi All, URGENT - Please help me form a scipt for this: I need the LATEST file from a dir on REMOTE machine to be SCP'd to a dir on local machine. (and I need to execute this from local server) I know that the below cmd is used to find the LATEST file from a dir. But this command is not... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: me_ub
3 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

Loop through files in dir, omit file with latest date

I want to loop through files in a directory but omit the file with the latest date in my list of files. How would I accomplish this? Thanks (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: stringzz
2 Replies

9. Shell Programming and Scripting

finding latest file having timestamp on it.....

Hi guys, I have a directory in UNIX having files with the below format, i need to pickup the latest file having recent timestamp embedded on it, then need to rename it to a standard file name. Below is the file format: filename_yyyymmdd.csv, i need to pick the latest and move it with the... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: kaushik25
1 Replies

10. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

finding latest file in Unix

Hi, i want to search a file in the dir , if file exists for todays date print the message that file found or if file does not exist for todays date/ if file not found i want to display message saying that file not found. How to do this. Thx for your help. (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: nick12
2 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question