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Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Bash script to rename files in a directory Post 302601839 by djsnifer on Friday 24th of February 2012 01:44:49 PM
Old 02-24-2012
Power Bash script to rename files in a directory

Dear friends,

I have created a script to rename all files in a directory by appending the file name with username (who created the file), the date it was created. For example, "apple.doc" should be renamed to "johnFeb23apple.doc" where "john" is the owner and "Feb23" is file created date. It works fine with file names without spaces. but there are few issues I don't know how to fix.

First, Here's my script:

Code:
#!/bin/bash
for i in *
do
newname=$(ls -l ${i} | awk '{ print $3 $6 $7 $9 }')

    mv $i $newname
done

1. When it met a file with spaces, e.g. like "fff eee.xls" it gives the following error and won't rename that file:

Code:
ls: cannot access fff: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access eee.xls: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat `fff': No such file or directory


2. I need to run this script in the parent directory (it's sub directory contains all files to be renamed). How do I make that change in my script? (adding path of sub directory where all files stored)

script is in "/tommy/" directory and files in "/tommy/data/" directory

Please help me. Thanks in advance... Smilie

Last edited by DukeNuke2; 02-24-2012 at 03:00 PM..
 

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chroot(2)							System Calls Manual							 chroot(2)

NAME
chroot() - change root directory SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
causes the named directory to become the root directory, the starting point for path searches for path names beginning with path points to a path name naming a directory. The user's working directory is unaffected by the system call. The entry in the root directory is interpreted to mean the root directory itself. Thus, cannot be used to access files outside the subtree rooted at the root directory. Security Restrictions The effective user ID of the process must be a user with the privilege to change the root directory. See privileges(5) for more information about privileged access on systems that support fine-grained privileges. RETURN VALUE
returns the following values: Successful completion. Failure. is set to indicate the error. ERRORS
fails and the root directory remains unchanged if one or more of the following is true: Any component of the path name is not a directory. The named directory does not exist or a component of the path does not exist. The effective user ID is not a user who has the privilege. path points outside the allocated address space of the process. The reliable detection of this error is implementation dependent. The length of the specified path name exceeds bytes, or the length of a component of the path name exceeds bytes while is in effect. Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the path name. WARNINGS
Obsolescent Interfaces is to be obsoleted at a future date. SEE ALSO
chroot(1M), chdir(2), privileges(5). STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
TO BE OBSOLETED chroot(2)
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