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Error with xargs

 
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# 1  
Old 05-31-2013
Hammer & Screwdriver Error with xargs
Hello everyone,

I am using a command to find some files (file1, file2, file3...) and copy them into a specific location, using this command


grep 'string' | awk '{print $2$3}' | xargs -I {} cp {} /dir1/dir2/dir3


surprisingly, I get the following error


cp: cannot stat `/dir1/dir2/dir3/file1.jpeg': No such file or directory


The directory does exist, I don't know what went wrong here, any ideas?

Thanks,
Last edited by Error404; 05-31-2013 at 11:04 AM..
# 2  
Old 05-31-2013
For debugging, replace cp by echo cp.
# 3  
Old 05-31-2013
Hello,

I tried to replace the cp by echo cp and modified the command a little, now it tells me this

Code:
 
cp /dir1/dir2/dir3/file1.jpeg /new/directory/


and sometimes

Code:
 
cp in /dir1/dir2/dir3/file1.jpeg /new/directory/

I have no clue what this is Smilie
can anyone help?

Thanks,
Last edited by Error404; 05-31-2013 at 11:01 AM..
# 4  
Old 05-31-2013
I guess the error happened before the grep 'string'
Check for space characters in file names!
# 5  
Old 05-31-2013
Just checked, no spaces at all.... text is dense as ever Smilie
I am really confused, I am not very professional with Linux, sorry

-Error404
# 6  
Old 05-31-2013
ON doing this grep 'string' | awk '{print $2$3}' it is returning the values like this.

make sure what are the 2nd and the 3rd fields and proceed!!
This User Gave Thanks to PikK45 For This Post:
Error404
# 7  
Old 05-31-2013
Provide the "-n1" option to xargs so that it processes just one file at a time...
Code:
grep 'string' | awk '{print $2$3}' | xargs -n1 -I {} cp {} /dir1/dir2/dir3

And where is grep's input coming from besides the pipeline can be replaced by a single awk command...
This User Gave Thanks to shamrock For This Post:
Error404
 
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