extracting return of ls -l into variables - UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Sniper Pixie · #1 03-01-2006

If I do "ls -l filename" in a script, it should return something like this:

-rw-r--r-- 1 user group 5945 Feb 28 14:24 filename

How do I put each of the above strings into a different variable?

eg Permissions, username, groupname, date

matrixmadhan · #2 03-01-2006

something like this,

Code:

ls -l filename | awk '{print $1, $3, $4, $6"-"$7"-"$8}' | read perm username grpname date

Sniper Pixie · #3 03-01-2006

Excellent. Thanks a lot!

Sniper Pixie · #4 03-01-2006

Okay, I've been playing around with the command you gave me, matrixmadhan, but I can't figure out how to print the fields $1, $2, $3 etc to different variables. They always either end up in the first variable, or all the variables remain blank. Any ideas?

Perderabo · #5 03-01-2006

That command will only work if your shell is ksh.

Sniper Pixie · #6 03-01-2006

Right. I'm in a bash shell. Any ideas about how I go about it in that?

Ygor · #7 03-01-2006

You can set named variables like $perm $username etc by using something like this....

Code:

eval $(ls -l file1|awk '{printf "perm=%s username=%s", $1, $3}')

...but you can just use set to set $1 $2 etc, e.g...

Code:

set -- $(ls -l file1)
perm=$1
username=$3

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
to pick up the Return Code ( RC) from the mailx command and return it to SAS uisng 's	manas6	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	0	06-05-2008 03:44 AM
extracting fields	prvnrk	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	10-08-2007 12:39 AM
extracting a string	start_shell	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	09-30-2007 05:41 AM
Extracting a users environment variables	Tornado	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	12-04-2006 11:23 PM
extracting from tar.bz2	Raom	UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users	1	03-07-2006 07:33 AM

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode