Multi-copying a file

jolecanard · #1 (**permalink**) 09-24-2008

Hello there,

I am writting a scrip with in shell (#!/bin/sh) and I need to copy 5 times the same file into different names:

Code:

 
cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.12
cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.13
cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.14
cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.15
cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.16

and I have to do that for several file. That takes a lot a place in my script...so I was wondering if there is a way to copy a file in multiple places wit ha single command?

Thanks for your help.

era · #2 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008

Not directly. Use a loop, perhaps?

Code:

for f in 12 13 14 15 16; do
  cp xsec.1.11 xsec.1.$f
done

What's the use of the multiple copies? Perhaps you could put symbolic links in place once, and be done with it?

Smiling Dragon · #3 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008

This will make five copies of xsec.1.11, five copies of xsec.2.11 and five copies of xsec.3.11. Hopefully this will be enough to get you started?

Code:

for file in xsec.1 xsec.2 xsec.3
do
  for num in 12 13 14 15 16
  do
    cp ${file}.11 ${file}.${num}
  done
done

Sing out if it's still confusing or not what you meant

edit: oops, that'll teach me to open multipl threads at once then get distracted

jolecanard · #4 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008

Thanks for your answers.

Unfortunately I had already though using a loop but I still needed as many lines to do the job...(If I had to make 1000 copies that would be definitely better, but for 5 or 6...).

In fact I wanted to make sure there was not a built-in function capable to do that!

rubin · #5 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolecanard

...Unfortunately I had already though using a loop but I still needed as many lines to do the job...(If I had to make 1000 copies that would be definitely better, but for 5 or 6...).

In fact I wanted to make sure there was not a built-in function capable to do that!

Code:

while read file
  do
   i=12
   while [ $i -lt 17 ]
    do
      cp -p "$file" /other/dir/"${file%.*}.$i"
      i=$(($i + 1))
    done
  done < files_list

Code:

$ cat files_list
xsec.1.11
xsec.2.11
xsec.3.11
...

Set the counter i (i=12) and the limit (17) to whatever value you desire.

MBN · #6 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

I dunno if what I need is in the sort of same lines as this but I need to copy all *.txt files to a directory but change any reacurring names eg like multi readme.txt would have to rename as to keep all files

rubin · #7 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBN

I dunno if what I need is in the sort of same lines as this but I need to copy all *.txt files to a directory but change any reacurring names eg like multi readme.txt would have to rename as to keep all files

It might be better to open a new thread for your problem. Also post a clear sample of your input, expected output, and your efforts so far.

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