Find and replace files in multiple folders

lodey · #1 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

Hi there,

I would like to write a script to automate the copy and renaming of files in multiple dir.

I have a generic file named s253e.prb and would like to copy this to multiple dir and rename it.

Example:

Dir is AL-M1 and the prb file name is AL-M1.prb. I would like to be able to copy the generic prb file to this dir and rename it AL-M1.prb while backing up the original.

I know that I can use the find command to complete this but I dont know where to start..

The Generic file is kept in the dir S25E3 dir and again we have multiple dirs:

AL-M1
AL-M2
CD-M1

etc

Any starters and help would be grateful to point me in the right dir...

I am using the ksh shell for this

blowtorch · #2 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

Do you have a list of the directories where the file is to be copied?

Here's my interpretation of your problem:

Code:

cd /parent/dir/to/all/work/dirs
for dir in AL-M1 AL-M2 CD-M1; do
   cp -p $dir/${dir}.prb $dir/${dir}.prb.backup
   cp -p /path/to/s253e.prb $dir/${dir}.prb
done

lodey · #3 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

There is 97 dirs that I need to copy and rename the file to. This is why I would like to try and automate the process as much as possible. Is there a way to use the code submitted above but to wildcard the dir input?

blowtorch · #4 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

Are all the 97 directories in the same path? And are there no other directories in that path? If yes, just do:

cd /parent/dir/to/all/work/dirs
for dir in *; do...

lodey · #5 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

All the directories are in the smae path ie:

/users/clyons/probes/

One other question (the script above works and thanks for it

)

The s25e3.prb file is also contaained within this dir structure. How would I get the scrit to ignore this dir so that an error message is not created
(see attached screen capture)

Again thanks for all your help on this

blowtorch · #6 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

It isn't an error, just a warning, but you can ignore this directory. Just shove an if in there.

Code:

cd /parent/dir/to/all/work/dirs
for dir in *; do
   if [ "$dir" = "s25e3" ]; then   #you can replace this with whatever dir you want to ignore
      continue
   fi
   cp -p $dir/${dir}.prb $dir/${dir}.prb.backup
   cp /path/to/s253e.prb $dir/${dir}.prb
done

lodey · #7 (**permalink**) 09-28-2007

Thanks...it works

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