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Full Discussion: using variables when copying files
Operating Systems OS X (Apple) using variables when copying files Post 302636637 by hungryd on Monday 7th of May 2012 06:27:08 PM
Old 05-07-2012
using variables when copying files
smaller sample from a larger script: i'm simply trying to copy files from one desktop directory on a mac to another using variables. when i first test the logic of the script without variables, everything works and the copy is effective.

but i'm unable to call the same copy by passing a variable. script runs as root, FYI. much obliged if you can weigh in. hoping it's just a syntax error that i'm missing.

Code:
#!/bin/sh

oldWS="/Volumes/Lion\ BaseOS/Users/workstation"
newWS="/Users/workstation"

echo "Migrating any old Desktop files from $oldWS/Desktop..."
cp "${oldWS}/Desktop/*" "${newWS}/Desktop"
if [ $? != 0 ]; then
	echo "There was a problem migrating files from $oldWS/Desktop, PLEASE INVESTIGATE."
else
	echo "Files from $oldWS/Desktop have been moved to the new Mac."
fi

exit 0

i'm assuming that i've got a syntax error here but i can't see where. i use similar syntax in other scripts all the time...

thanks for whatever insight you might have to share.

david

---------- Post updated at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:20 PM ----------

forgot to mention the error i'm getting:

Code:
cp: /Volumes/Lion\ BaseOS/Users/workstation/Desktop/*: No such file or directory

which is odd as:
a) the directory does exist
b) when i run the cp manually and without variables, it's. just. fine.
 

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LEARN ABOUT OPENSOLARIS

update-desktop-database

update-desktop-database(1)					   User Commands					update-desktop-database(1)

NAME

       update-desktop-database - Desktop file caching utility

SYNOPSIS

       update-desktop-database [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [filepath]

DESCRIPTION

       update-desktop-database creates cache files for desktop file MIME type mapping for improved MIME lookup performance.

       It  expects  to	be  given  the	path  to  a  directory	or  directories  containing a number of application installed .desktop files, e.g.
       /usr/share/applications, and writes a mime-info.cache containing cached information about the MIME types that each application can  handle.
       If  no directory is provided, this utility will use a default directory list as specified in the FreeDesktop MIME specification. This cache
       file is used to avoid a lot of system call and disk seek overhead in a number of applications.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -?, --help		       Show help options.

       -v, --verbose		       Turn on verbose output.

       -q, --quiet		       Do not provide any output.

OPERANDS

       The following operands are supported:

       filepath 	       The path to a directory or directories containing a number of application installed .desktop files.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0	Application exited successfully

       1	Application exited with failure

FILES

       The following files are used by this application:

       /usr/bin/update-desktop-databaseThe command-line executable for the application.

       /usr/share/applications	       System desktop file directory

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWgnome-desktop-prefs	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface stability	     |Committed 		   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       update-mime-database(1), gnome-desktop-item-edit(1), attributes(5), gnome-interfaces(5)

       Latest version of the GNOME Desktop User Guide and GNOME System Administration Guide for your platform.

NOTES

       Written by Glynn Foster, Sun Microsystems Inc., 2007.

SunOS 5.11							    31 Jan 2007 					update-desktop-database(1)
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