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Copy files on a list to another directory

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# 1  
Old 07-08-2011
Copy files on a list to another directory
Hi.

I have a list with file names like

testfile1.wav
testfile2.wav
testfile3.wav

and a folder that contains a large number of wav files (not only the ones on the list).

I would like to copy the files whose names are on the list from the wav file directory to a new directory.

I tried to write a Python script for this, but it doesn't work and I wondered if there's an easier option to do that.

Cheers,

Kat
# 2  
Old 07-08-2011
If GNU cp is available (if you're on Linux for example) and if the filenames do not contain pathological characters (newlines or white spaces):

Code:
< list xargs cp -t target_dir --

If the filenames contain white spaces and you have GNU cp (this is will be much slower if the number of files is high):

Code:
< list xargs -I{} cp -t target_dir -- {}

This is similar, but noisy:

Code:
while IFS= read -r; do 
  cp -- "$REPLY" target_dir 
done < list

Another option, if the filenames do not contain embedded newlines
and the total length of their names is below the ARGS_MAX limit
of your system:

Code:
( IFS=$'\n'; cp -- $(<list) target_dir )

If your shell doesn't expand ansi strings $'...', use a literal newline:

Code:
( 
  IFS='
' 
  cp -- $(<list) target_dir 
  )

Last edited by radoulov; 07-08-2011 at 05:10 PM.. Reason: Correction.
This User Gave Thanks to radoulov For This Post:
Bloomy
# 3  
Old 07-08-2011
Thanks! I tried the first option but I received the error

Code:
cp: target `testfile.wav' is not a directory

I executed it like this:

cd'ed into the wav file directory and then:

Code:
< ../list.data xargs cp -- -t ./target_directory

Last edited by radoulov; 07-08-2011 at 05:05 PM.. Reason: Code tags!
# 4  
Old 07-08-2011
Sorry, there was an error in the commands I posted. Try the new versions.
The double dash -- marks the end of options, so it should be after the -t option and its argument.
Last edited by radoulov; 07-08-2011 at 05:13 PM..
# 5  
Old 07-09-2011
Hi,
I didnt understand what is difficult in this.. I have a suggestion.

Code:
for file in `cat list_file `                          /* list_file contains the wav files you want to copy
 do 
 cp source_dir/$file new_dir
 done

# 6  
Old 07-09-2011
That is a useless use of cat and useless use of backticks, inherently dangerous because any file too long for a shell variable to hold will have some of its contents silently lost. It's also very inefficient. There's a much better way to do this, which doesn't attempt to store the entire file in memory at once, and uses pure shell built-ins:
Code:
while read LINE
do
        ...
done < filename

Last edited by Corona688; 07-09-2011 at 05:52 PM..
This User Gave Thanks to Corona688 For This Post:
jaiseaugustine
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